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Wales was conquered by the Normans in the 12-13th century before the developmnt of the British education system. Thus education developed in Wales along the same pattern as in England. Schooling was a luxury in the Middle Ages reserved for a privlidged few. What schooling was to be had, was conducted by the Church and until Henry VIII and the Reformation would have been conducted in Latin as was the case throughout the Christain world. After the Reformation schools began to be established in England that were secular in nature. Many of the great English public schools were established at this time and the language of instruction was English. Only a small part of the population, however, actually went to any form of school. We are unsure about the language of instruction in Welsh schools established in the 16th-18th centuries. As they would have been established in the cities where English influence was greatest, they may have been conducted in English, but we have no actual information at this time. During the 18th century, John Griffiths set up many Sunday schools in Wales to teach the Welsh how to read and write in Welsh, bringing mass literacy to Wales, something not seen in England until the late 19th century. A Welsh reader writes, "The Welsh Sunday schools in the 18th century came about after noncomformity and the chapels began to dominate Welsh life (the chapels did dominate Welsh life right up until the middle of the 20th century) with their firebrand preaching. The literacy (in Welsh, not English) in Wales led to many Welsh books being printed and many households owning their own Bibles." [Morgan] With the advent of state-financed public education, the inroads of the English language into Wales increased. As far as we know, all of the state financed schools like National Schools conducted classes in English and insisted that only English be spoken. We note in the 20th century little difference between English and Welsh schools and school uniform. We do have details on one Welsh school, Cowbridge Grammar School which dates back to 1607. A Welsh reader writes, "Since the 1950s Welsh language education (and that is education through the medium of Welsh, not just teaching the Welsh language to pupils) has become evermore popular." [Morgan]
Wales was conquered by the Normans in the 12-13th century before the developmnt of the British education system. Thus education developed in Wales along the same pattern as in England. Schooling was a luxury in the Middle Ages reserved for a privlidged few. What schooling was to be had, was conducted by the Church and until Henry VIII and the Reformation would have been conducted in Latin as was the case throughout the Christain world.
Education in Wales has always been a complicated matter. At one time the vast majority of children received their education through
Christianity. However, unlike England, the main source was the Chapels and not the Church. During the 18th century, John Griffiths set up many Sunday schools in Wales to teach the Welsh how to read and write in Welsh, bringing mass literacy to Wales, something not seen in England until the late 19th century. A Welsh reader writes, "The Welsh Sunday schools in the 18th century came about after noncomformity and the chapels began to dominate Welsh life (the chapels did dominate Welsh life right up until the middle of the 20th century) with their firebrand preaching. The literacy (in Welsh, not English) in Wales led to many Welsh books being printed and many households owning their own Bibles." [Morgan]
A census of education in Wales was carried out in 1847 which become known in Wales as Brad y llyfrau Gleision (The Treachery of the Blue Books). The census
refused to visit Non-conformist (chapel) schools and the census takers knew no word of Welsh. Therefore when asking questions to the Welsh only children there was no reply. This was put down to stupidness!! The final conclusion was that the non-conformists, and more importantly the Welsh language made children stupid. [Aaron] The result of this was the introduction of the "Welsh Not". Any child overheard talking Welsh in school was given a piece of wood with WN on it. If they overheard another child speaking Welsh they were to pass it on. Whoever had the WN at the end of the week was punished. Not only did this stop most children talking the language, it also pitted one child against another! [Aaron] With the advent of state-financed public education in the late 19th century, the inroads of the English language into Wales increased. As far as we know, all of the state financed schools like National Schools conducted classes in English and insisted that only English be spoken. One of these national schools is depicted in book and film form in How Green is My Valley. We note National Schools by the World War I era in which the National Schools appear to be promoting the Welsh language. We are not sure of the time line associated with language policies.
The modern Welsh education system is essebntially the same as that in England. Children begin in nursery school (3 - 5 years). Primary school is divided into two sections: Infants (5 - 7 years) and Junior (8 - 11 years). Secondaty school follows (12- 18 years). County Primary (CP) and, of course, Junior Mixed & Infants (JM&I) Schools, usually contain separate Infant and Junior Departments (sometimes with separate Head Teachers). However, they may occasionally be entirely separate. The word County indicates that the school is managed and financed entirely by the Local Authority; alternatively, the word County will sometimes be substituted by CE or C of E (indicating that it is a Church of England school) or RC (indicating that it is a Roman Catholic School) - these will be managed by the Church authorities though many aspects of its curricular and financial management will still be overseen by the Local Authority. The term Local Authority (or LA) will sometimes be referred to as Local Education Authority (LEA). Some areas of England and Wales have another system where schools are arranged on the following basis: First School (5 - 8 years), Middle School (9 - 13 years, and Senior or Secondary Schools (14-18 years).
A HBC reader has provided us a glossary of important terms concerning the modern British education ststem. These terms relate primarily to the modern British education system in England and Wales, and to a large part Ulster. Scotand is somewhat different.
Welsh school garments are essentially the same as those worn in England. We do not yet have Welsg school garment pages. We do have a page on mortarboard caps. They were worn at private preparatory and public schools, but not at state schools which did not have uniforms. These were the same as those worn in English schools duting the late-19th and early-20th centuries.
We note descriptionsof different types of schools in Wales. For the most part they are similar to Englisg schools. We are not, however, altogetgher certain just what all the different school types mean. We note, for example, references to board, infants, and national schools. Hopefully our Welsh reader will provide some insights here. Other types of schools like grammar and comprehensives, grammar, preparatory, and public schools are more obvious. We also notice a few Catholic schools in Wales.
We do have details on a few individual Welsh schools. Cowbridge Grammar School dates back to 1607. Aberdare Grammar School was founded more recently, in 1896. We note that when it opened in 1896 it was a coeducational school, novel at the time for secondary schools, and that the curriculum included the Welsh language as an eldective subject. Aberdare is now a comprehensive school.
A Welsh reader writes, ""Since the 1950s Welsh language education (and that is education through the medium of Welsh, not just teaching the Welsh language to pupils) has become evermore popular." [Morgan] Another reader writes, "A growing number of schools are educated through the medium of Welsh. This increase is especially great in English dominated areas in the South. The West of Wales is nearly all Welsh and in some towns (like my home town of Caernarfon) English is very rarely needed or used." [Aaron]
We do not know if there was any difference in how English and Welsh children dressed in earlier historical eras, either in general or in schools. We note in the 20th century little or no difference between English and Welsh schools and school uniforms.
Aaron, Guto. E-mail message, July 17, 2003.
Morgan, Jason. E-mail message, July 17, 2003.
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