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We notice many type of schools in England over time. There are so many different types, sdome dating back to the medieval era, that it can be confusing understanding the development of English educatioin. And the whole situation was conplicated by the fact that the schools often kept their original names after becoming a different type of school. Some of these schools are familar to us or easily understood. Some sound a little strange, especially to non-British readers, especially Americans. English grammar schools are secondary not private schools. Public schools are actually elite private boarding schools. The national schools were founded by churches. There are so many because the British began fonding differentb types of school long before the British government assumed responisility for the country's education system, and began founding a free state system. These schools existed over a long time and commonly overlapping with various other schools.
Some monastaries during the medieval era set up almonry schools for the poor. This was done on an informal basis during the early-medieval era and gradually became more formalized. An almonry school was a medieval English monastic charity school supported by a monies or goods allocated to the almoner. (Notce the modrn use of alimony. ) Actual formal almonry schools appeared in the late-medieval period (early-14th). A kind of scholarship was created for entry into cathedral schools, including boarding for boys who were at leat 10 years old who could sing and read. At the time children matured longer than today, so they could sing longer than modern chrosters. They sang in the cathedral choir and acted esentislly as page boys to the monks perfoirming ranbge of iseful work assignments. They might be taught by the monks or secular clerks at monsastaries. This of coursed ended when King Henry VIII after the break wuth Rome disolved the monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries (1536-41). A few of these schools, however, survived into the 20th century.
An approved school was a 20th century creation. They were created from the the earlier industrial and reformatory schools (1933). They were boarfing schools for troubled youth. Youths were committed to approved schools by courts. The youths involved were mostly found guilty of petty crimes or were determinned to be beyond the control of their parents. They idea was to model tyhem on the private boarding schools operating at tghe time. Of course this swas impossible because most of the youth involved were difficult to work with and had little interest in academics. Security was less strict than at borstals where youth committing more serious crimes were cimmitted -- tougher more secured institution, basically a youth prisons. Approved schools were phased out in place of group homes as a result of the hildren and Young Persons Act (1969). They were replaced by Community Homes, with responsibility devolved to local councils.
Blue coat schools were charity schools for academically capeable boys. They were commonly founded by wealthy benefactors or some kind of public subscription and associated with the Anglican Church. While charity schools, these schools were not necesarily for children living in abjrct poverty. Rather they were for children from hunble families that could not aford to send their boys to school. There were not free state schools in Britain until the 19th century. The proper name was a hospital school, but were commonly called blue coat schools because of the uniform adopted for the boys. The first blue coat school was Christ's Hospital School which still operates. It became a model for several similar schools whoch followed the program and uniform. Several of these schools survive although as many varied tyoes of schools.
Board Schools were a critical step in the development of British public education which had lagged behind several other countrie--primroly america and Germany. They were the first state run schools in England. They began with Education Act of 1870 which authorized the creaion of local school boards. The 1870 Act established local school boards across the country to administer the partially state funded board schools that were set up in areas where education was inadequate. The Act gave the local boards the authority to raise funds for schools from local rates (taxes) which we think meant realestate taxes. The local boads had the authority to build and operate non-denominational schools when existing voluntary (primarily denominational) schools were inadequate to meet community needs. The local boards also had the alternative of subsidising existing denominational schools. And the boards has the autority of pay the fees of indigent children, but were not required to do so. The local school boards were also given the authority to pass a municipal by-law making school attendance compulsory for children between 5-13 years of age. The 1870 law did not require any religious education beyond basic Bible reading. A good example is the Knowle School, we think in Sprinfield, Dudley, Staffordshire. This was one of thousands of primary schools opened across Britain as a result of the ground-breaking 1870 Education Act. The board shools were a preliminary steo toward making education available for all British children. It was also a first step toward standardizing British education and eventually imposing standards. Before the 1870 Act wealthy nd middle class parents sent their children to fee-paying schools. Some parents who could not afford school fees would sent their children to local charity schools. Many children were not sent to school at all. The 1870 act changed all that. The early board schools were not free, although fees were very low. Many of the children attending these schools had never been to a school before. Until the 1870 Act, education was primarily a function of church groups. Poor children and children of families not active in churches did not receive educations. Finally in 1880 as a result of further legislation the local boards assumed the full cost of educationand made attendance compulsory for children through age 10 years. Over time, most of the board schools evolved into an infants (meaning prirmary) school.
A borstal is a reformatory for delinquent boys. (I don't know of any girls' borstals.) The borstal was a residential facility with very strict discipline. The name comes from the village of Borstal where the first facility was established, I think about 1900. Theoretically the boys were given therepy. The educational program was cetered on vovational training.
The earliest schools we know of are song schools at cathedrals and monestaries. Song schools served not only to provide coral singers to add to church services, but also to train priests. At first most of the boys in early song schools were preparing for a religious vocation. Thus the St. Albans Chour School is sometimes looked on as the first English school tracing its origins to the monestary sing school in the 6th century.
Chantry schools were also church schools. A chantry is an endowment for singing or saying mass for that person's soul or a designated person. This was related to monastic song schools and ultimatedly cathedral choir schools.
We do not know a great deal about commercial schools We had an idea that it essentially meant secretarial schools. But in England it mean someything different. We note one definition. "These were schools that taught subjects beyond the traditional classical curriculum." One author suggests that they were private fee-paying schools for middle-class children. [Leinster-Mackay, p. 67.] We are more familar with the focus on classical studies. One authot tells us that, "Coomercil education in England is perhaps as old as classical education. In fact, they have been competing with each other from very early times." [Dalvi, p. 170.] British education was higly oriented toward classical subjects. This only began to change in the 19th century as subjects like science began to receive real attntion. Commercial schools began to appear earlier (16th century). They were for the sons (no girl allowed for seceral centuries) of merchants who had no interest in Aristotle or Greek and Latin. They wanted sons who could assist them in their business. And this ment in particular a real froundation in English and math. Education was dominated by the public schools for several centuries. This began to change in the 19th century. Britain not only began founding a state school system. We also see prepratoryy school for boys heded fo the public schools where classical studie dominated. We had thought that commercial schools were primarily secondary schools. We see some primary schools that were commercial schools.
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A comprehensive school is normally a secondary school for students aged approximately 11–18 that is not selective in character. The earlier English sdcondary schools divided children at 11 years of age on the basis of academic ability and performamnce. Students who did well in national '11+' exam went to cademicsally demanding grammar schools and the rest of the children continuing their education went to secondary moderns. The comprehensives schools are now the basis of the English and Welsh secondary system. A few grammar schools continue to oprate with selective programs. The comprehensives weere introduced on an experimental basis by ythe Lbour Party after World War II (1940s) and became more widespread beginning in the mid-60s. The Blair educational reforms allowed thenm to e part of a local education authority or a self governing academy or a multi-academy trust (2003).
We notice schools described as county schools. Here the counties refer to essentially the various provinces of England. And we have archived a few county schools on HBC. As best we can figure out, they were early state secondary schools. I am not sure when the schools were first formed, but we think it was around the turn of the 20th century. One example is a school that was founded as the Windsor County School. We also notev the Harrow County School.
The dame school is an English school with a long tradition, largely because England was so late in establish a state system of tuition-free schoolsd. A dame school was the place that very young children from working-class or other modest-income families learned to read, do math, and write. They were not schools in the modern sense of a building where a groupe of teachers taught a sizeable number of children. Rather it was usually where a single woman taught a small group of tounger children, often in her home. In many cases it was a middke-aged or elderly woman with just a basic education if any at all. Other skills were tought, such as sewing for girls. We are not sure just when dame schools began. We think they were operating in the 18th century. We know that this was the way that many English children learned to read and write during the early- and mid-19th century. Because of the time line, there are virtually no photographic images of dame schools. The quality of education varied widely. Some teachers provided a good basic education. Others were basically just child-minders. Fees were very low, some likev 3 pence a week. The British Government founded a state education system with the Educational Reform Act of 1870. This eventually ended the dame school as a form of primary education, but we believe some women began operaring essentially pre-schools. We are not entirely sure what these early pre-schools woukd hve been called.
The modern English grammar school has evolved from the grammar schools which begun to appear in the 16th century as England emerged from the Middle Ages. The grammar schools were the first important English schools to adopt humanist education, moving away from a curiculum fully devoted to religion. One of the most renowned of the early grammar schools was St. Paul's, but there were many others. Many made provision for boys from poor families.
Grey coat schools were like blue coat schools, hospital charity schools. They seemed to have followed in the tradition of the Grey Coat School of London (Westminister) which in the 19th century became a girls school and is now a comprehensive. Like the blue coat schools, the name derives from the uniforms given the children to wear. We have been unable to find much out about these schools, but notice that many were coeducational schools, unlike the the blue coat schools which were mostly if not entirely for boys. We get the impression that the grey cpat schools were commonly for very poor children and orphans, although this may have varied from school to school.
The first secular schools which appeared were the schools founded by the guilds which were organized in medieval cities.
Some of England's most well known schools are the hospital schools. Many are also known as te blue coat schools because of the blue tunics many of these schools as an early school uniforms. Early school uniforms in Enhland were first and inicator of poverty rather than a bage of attending an exclusive private school. They are some of the earliest English schools still operating. Unlike the name suggests these schools had nothing to do with medicine. The term hospital in the 13th century was used to mean a charitable institution for the needy. Hospital schools were charity schools for boys whose parents could not afford to educate them. There are several different hospital schools in England. The Lincoln Christ's Hospital School traces its origins to the 11t century. The Royal Hospital School in East Anglia is one of the newest hospital schools. It was founded nearly 300 years ago as part of the Crown charity, Greenwich Hospital, to educate the sons of seafarers.
The word Industrial School did not have the current meaning of vocational school, although they did have a curriculum with a focus on the trades. An industrial school was another word for a school that was a reformatory. They were created as a result of the passage of the Industrial Schools Act (1857). There were similar schools in Ireland and Scotland. The students who attended were sent to these schools by the courts. They came from very poor families. In Richard's story he went to this type of school because he played truant. He never left the school he was sent to until he was 14. By then the other pupils could not believe that the reason he was at their industrial school was because he had been a truant. This implies that many boys had committed more serious infractions, but where not serious enough for prison! They were supposed to be were bad children where made into good law abidding citizens who had been given vocational training. The vocational training is why they were caused an industrial school. A range of skills were taught which varied from school to school. These included carpentry, farm work, tailoring, ect. A British researcher has prepared a useful list of industrial and reformatory school. The list includes schools in England and Wales because the Welsh school system is so similar to that in England. We note a fascinating acoount of Richard Charles who attended an industrial school.
Infants schools is basically a term used for kindergardens/nursery schools in England. It does not men infants in the modern sence of babies. Often these schools accepted children beginning at 5 years of age, but this has vried over time and from school to school. This was a year before primary school which began at age 6 yers. These schools have at times accepted younger, at times much younger children. Many infants schools are attached to primary schools, but this has varied over time and from school to school. The first school we know of called an infants school was opened by industrialist Robert Owen in Scotland (1816). He wanted to protect child from the corosive affects of poverty. Owen's school adopted very progressive methods. Samuel Wilderspin and James Buchanan develope the early eucation methods. (Buchanan was the teacher in Robert Owen's school who developed the educational system in New Lanark). The children were provided a pleasant environment where they were helped to surmount practical problems and rarely punished. Teachers made an effort to encourage children to help each other. Activities included dancing, singing, and playing outdoors. Many working-class mothers worked outside the home. We do not yet have data on this. One source says that 45 percent of children under the age of 5 years were enrolled in school during the 19th century, but does not say. This must mean the late-19th century, presumably after the 1870s reforms. The Elementary Education Act 1870 (the Forster Act) introduced compulsory universal education for children aged 5-13 but left enforcement of attendance to local school boards. As part of the 1870 reforms the Department of Education set the official age for school entrance at 5 years. Infant schools commonly accepted poor children of 2-7 years of age is there was available space and staff. The Education Department established standards for children to attain to prepared them to enter primary school (first standard) at age 6 years. The Minitry began to rethink these standards (1890). Infant schools began a new period of development that stressed a child-centered approach, in effect closer to Owen's original approach. A Department of Educatiom circular encouraged teachers toconsider a wide range of childhood development in designing educational programs (1893). We see a class at the Rodborough Infant School about 1905. Infant schools adopted a child-centered approach (1920s-30s). The Hadow Committee Report strongly recommended that primary schools provide discovery learning and child-centered practice. Many further reforms began at the end of World war II, beginning with the Education Act of 1944. Unlike many of the historical schools, infant schools have continued to be part of the modern education system.
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The history of the English National Schools as with so much of English education is complicated. Through the 18th century, poor children had very little access to education of any type. There were some charity schools, mostly operated by parishes, but no national effort. For the most part, poor English and Welsh children went uneducated. (This was less true in Scotland.} This in part reflects the character of the Reformation in England. Protestant Europeam countries (Germany, Switerland, and Scandanavia) were leaders in public education. This reflects the imprtance Protestants place on reading the Bible. Royal Lancastrian Society (which became the British and Foreign School Society) was created to promote schools using the Monitorial System developed by Joseph Lancaster (1808). The first National Schools in England and Wales were organized by the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor on the Principles of the Established Church (1811). At the time, English education was still primarily in the hands of the Church of England. The purpose was to to establish schools similar to the Royal Lancasterian schools using a system develped by Dr. Andrew Bell. Religious instruction, still an important part of the curriculum, was based on the teachings of the Church of England. This was a major difference with non-denominational Christian instruction of the Royal Lancastrian schools. The National Society sought to open a National school in every Church of England (COE) parish of England and Wales. The schools were usually opened next to the parish church and named after the church. [Lawson and Silver] This was at first all done with church funds. Parliament first grants to these church schools (1831). This was England's first tentative step toward free, public education. Annual grants went to the different societies. The great bulk went to larger National Society. The government grants increased over time. Along with the funds came government inspections and increasing regulation. The rigid monitorial system which was at first widely implemented gradually fell out of favor. [Gates] A few of these National Schools buildimgs are still in use. These schools served as the backbone of the Engkish state system when Partliament passed the Education Act (1870). This created the board schools to supplement to expamd the societies Natioinal Schools. The Act provided for state funding for 50 percent of the operational costs of voluntary schools, but phased out capital (building) funding. The National Society responded by raising some £10 million and was able to nearly double the number of its schools to 12,000 (1870-85). The National Society experiebced problems funding to meet their maintenance costs of the expanding system. They also faced competition with the new board schools. As a result, the Natioanl Scocierty began closing schools handed them over to the school boards. Here Partliament respomded with another Education Act provided some relief (1902). The issue was addressed with another Education Act (1944). This is some times known as the Butler Act. The remaininging National Scchools became voluntary aided or voluntary controlled primary schools, funded by the state but still able to promote the teachings of the COE. This was the origin of the many Anglican Schhols operating in England today.
Some parish churches set up informal schools before the creation of of a public education system. Theschools wre funded by the local parish. A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, set in a lovasl ciommunity. It is organizatuioinlly a section within a diocese. The parish is presided overr by a priest, often called understanably a parish priest, although he may have one or more curates to assist him. They are based in the parish church. In the United States thesde parish schools are geberally called pariochisal schools and are mostly Catholic. These were not schools to train clerics, but to provide a mostly secular education to the children of the parish. Many continued to operate even after England began founding a punlic chool system because many parents wanted religious instruction to be part of the curiculum and ethos of the school. It is essentially a private Christian school maintained by the local parish. In England this usully meant the Church of England. In the United States they are generally called parochial schools and are mostly Catholic. Unlike the United States, these schools are eligible for substantial state funding. The modern word parochial comes from the same baic root as 'parish', and parochial schools were founded in what became the the educational wing of the local parish church. Most are primasry schools, but there ere secondary schools as well. There are also schools affiliated with Jewish, Islsmic, and other faiths. They are, however, not usually called parish or parochial schools because of the association of the terrm parish with Christianity.
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English preparatory schools are elementary-level schools, generally for boys 8-13 years of age. (There are also girls' and coed prep schools, but the girls often leave for their public schools at age 11.) They are called preparatory schools as they were created to prepare younger boys for the public schools. The public schools in the 19th Century could be and often were very rough places. Many had no definite age for accepting children, but were not generally suitable for younger boys. The prep schools were mostly set up as boarding schools and persued an academic and sports program designed to hrlp the boys do well at their public school. Many prep schools were established in the late 19th Century just as uniforms were becoming established and many new public schools were being opened. Like the public school, the preparatory school had a dautingly long list for the boys school kit. Many prep schools were quite strict about the uniform and how it was worn. Headmasters oftn viewed the boys as walking advertisements for the school and insisted that the boys wear the uniform correctly. The uniform has been significantly simplified at the modern prep school, but it is still given substantial emphasis at many schools.
Public schools still very much exist, but are some of the most historic schools in England. Most English grammar schools recruited their students from a certain definite area, represented by the parish or the county in which they had been founded, according to the conditions prescribed in their respective charters. Public schools generally did not have limitation as to where the students came from, although most schools did and continue to draw their students from the surronding area. The term is often confusing to foreigners because "public" in most cointries is used to mean state schools where attendance is free. Early public schools had very loose age limits. Modern public schools generally are secondary schools for children from about 13-18 years of age. The first public schools were only for boys. Girls' pubkic schools appeared in the 19th century. Many modern public schools have shifted to coeducation.
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Ragged schools were free schools for poor children. The name for these schools appeared well adter individuals had begun founding the schools. These schools were also known as Industrial Schools for Destitute Children. The idea was to provide orphans or indigent children with a decent education and vocational training as wwll as three square meals a day. We suspect the meals attracted many of the children. The boys received training in shoemaking, tailoring, and other trades and a program designed to inculcate a work ethic and discipline. Through the 18th century, there were no schools or ways for poor children to obtain an education. The Victorians are often seen as prudish and insensaitive, but many of our modern humanitarian inpulses originated from the early 19th century and the Vicorian era in Britain. The 19th century Victorians exhibited a deep sense of philanthropy and Christian imperative to do good--something not chaacteristic of the 18th century. Just before Victoria became queen, a Portsmouth shoemaker, John Pounds, was struck by the terrible plight of poor children, especially abandonded children. He began teaching poor children without charging any fees (1818). He did not call his effort a ragged children, but as others began doing this, the name emerged as so many of the children wore ragged clothing. It was Thomas Guthrie who played a role in promote Pounds' idea of free education for poor and working-class children. The idea was not limited to England. oling for working class children. Guthrie opened his own a ragged school in Edinburgh. Sheriff Watson opened another in Aberdeen. It is a major effort for an individual to open amd maintain one of these schools--essentially a full time jon. So These schools became community efforts. They were supported by a group of benefactors and subscriptions from the town's inhabitants. Each school was run by a committee whose aim it was to remove/rescue as many waifs and strays from the streets of the town as finances would allow and to educate them in the "4 R's". Reading, writing, arithmetic and religion. That well known author of the day, Charles Dickens, said of a Ragged School in Lambeth: "They who are too ragged, wretched, filthy and forlorn to enter any other place ... are invited to come here." The step to go from individual effort to a national movement was taken by Lord Shaftesbury. He organized the Ragged School Union (1844). And as a result, over 200 free schools for poor children were established (1844-52). Wealthy individuals such as Burdett-Coutts gave large sums of money to the Ragged Schools Union. One assessment comments thart the movement 'was driven not by the wealthy but by common folk'. This is the kind of gratuitous comment often found in modern texts which routinely seek to demonize the wealthy. It is based in the Marxist principle that people only get wealthy by exploiting the poor. The author provides no documentation concerning the funding of these schools. And in fact the working-class was not in a position to fund them. And we know that wealthy individuals did suopport some of the schools. We suspect that the primary backers were successful middle-class individuals like John Pounds, ashoe maker, who fiunded the first Ragged School. In fact, the first major reforms of the modern era came when Middle Class Victorians achieved the vote and began demanding reforms like public education. There were some 350 ragged schools operating by the time Parliament passed the Education Act (1870). Over time with Governemt funds now available, the ragged schools were gradually taken over by local school boasrds and absorbed into England's developing public school system. A boy particularly associated with ragged schools is Jim Jarvis. This gave rise to the Truant Schools discussed below.
We note a number of reformatory schools in England. Not all of these schools were called reformatory schools. We note that some were called borstals. We are not sure if there was a difference between reformatory schools in general and borstals. A British researcher has prepared a useful list of industrial and reformatory school. The list includes schools in England and Wales because the Welsh school system is so similar to that in England.
These were boarding schools set up for truant street children. We do not know how common they were. We do note one in Southport at the turn of the 20th century. We have some information about a Liverpool Truant School. Some of the schools were known as truant's industrial schools. An example here is the Plymouth Truants' Industrial School estanlished in 1882. The school was opened on the basis of the Industrial Schools Act of 1866.
Photography was invented at about the same time that public meaning state sponsored free schools were becoming established in Europe and North America. Thus we have for the first time realistic images schools in the 19th century. Unfortunately, much of the histoic photographic record is not identified. Sone photographs have captions on the front or back, but most do not. So we are left to speculate in just what kind of school is pictured. Some informatiion can be deduced from the image. We can usually figure out the age of the children and chromnological period. And if there is a building in background that is an important clue as is the way the children are dressed. So we can often figure out the type of school, but to varying degrees of cedrtainty. And some images are a real mystery. We wecome any insights that readers may have.
Dalvi, M. A. "A historical survey of commercial education in England 1543-1902," Comparative Education Review Vol. 9, No. 2 (1965), pp. 170–76.
Leinster-Mackay, Donald P. "The English private school 1830-1914, with special reference to the private proprietary school" PhD Thesis: Durham University (1971).
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