Education in Wootton

St.Mary's church from the north December 2007

The earliest reference to education in Wootton in anything held by Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service is in 1633 when the parish register records the burial of William Wright, schoolmaster. There is also a will for Edmund Allen, schoolmaster, dated 1667 [ABP/W1667/51].

The Bishop of Lincoln carried out visitations to Bedfordshire in 1717 and 1720 and for both of these a list of questions was sent out in advance, one of which enquired about the provision of schools in each parish. The return for Wootton for 1717 states: "There is a public school. The number of children in it is sometimes more sometimes less. They are taught the Church catechism and they come to Church". In 1720, however, the return from Wootton simply read: "None". The accounts of the Overseers of the Poor for the parish [P3/12] record a number of instances of money being paid for the schooling of poor children between 1786 and 1811, presumably these children were sent outside the parish given the lack of a school in 1720 and in 1818, as will be seen below.

In 1818 a Select Committee was established to enquire into educational provision for the poor. This was no doubt prompted, in part, by the recent foundation of two societies promoting education and specifically the building of schools. The Society for Promoting the Lancasterian System for the Education of the Poor was established in 1808 promoting schools run along the lines pioneered by Joseph Lancaster, who had himself copied those of Dr.Andrew Bell, in which older children taught their younger fellows. The Society was renamed the British and Foreign School Society in 1814,. It was supported by a number of prominent nonconformists, Lancaster himself was a Quaker, and sought to teach a non-sectarian curriculum. In answer to this perceived nonconformist takeover of local education the National Society was firmed in 1811 to encourage the teaching of poor children along Anglican lines, including the catechism. The Select Committee sent a questionnaire to all parishes in the country asking for: particulars relating to endowments for the education of children; other educational institutions; observations of parish needs etc. The return from Wootton noted that there was no educational endowment and no school in the parish, ending: "The parish have not the means of supplying a fund for the education of the children of the poor".

In the country generally the number of schools built continued to grow over the next fifteen years so that by 1833 the government agreed to supplement the work of the two societies, and local benefactors, by making £20,000 per annum available in grants to help build schools. It also prompted another questionnaire to be sent to each parish in England asking for details of local educational provision. The return for Wootton stated: "One Daily School (commenced 1824), contains 20 males and 10 females, belonging to the Baptists. Three Sunday Schools, in one of which (supported by the Rev. T.Gadsby, Vicar, who gives £4 as a salary to the teachers) are 57 males and 53 females; in another School 40 males and 60 females; this appertains to Methodists; and the other of 30 males and 30 females, to Baptists. The teachers in these Dissenting Schools give their services gratuitously". In those days a Sunday School was just that, a school which met on a Sunday, usually in the church or nonconformist chapel or other similar building, teaching more than the religious topics with which they are associated today.

The next national enquiry was in 1846/7 when the Church of England made an enquiry as to all its church schools. This was against the background of a new Whig government which championed secular education and the increasing importance of nonconformists, particularly Wesleyan Methodist, and Roman Catholics in providing schools. The return for Wootton notes a Sunday School for 58 boys and 50 girls, further noting: "No Daily school. A school would be a great benefit to the parish. A room for Sunday school is wanted; the school is now held in the church".

1870 to 1903

The first Education Act was passed in 1870 (more correctly it was known as the Elementary Education Act). It was a milestone in the provision of education in Britain demonstrating central government's unequivocal support for education of all classes across the country. It also sought to secularise education by allowing the creation of School Boards. These were groups of representatives, elected by the local ratepayers and the Board had the powers to raise funds to form a local rate to support local education, build and run schools, pay the fees of the poorest children, make local school attendance compulsory between the ages of 5 and 13 and could even support local church schools, though in practice they replaced them, turning them into Board run schools (known as Board Schools). Naturally, and luckily for local historians, the Act required a questionnaire of local schools in 1870; Wootton still had "no efficient school" and required "accommodation for 150 boys and girls, and 100 infants in Wootton village".

Wootton infants' school about 1900 [Z50/136/28]

The direct result of the lack of provision of an efficient school resulted in the formation of a School Board in Wootton on 6 Apr 1875. Separate schools for junior and infants were created.The infants school was next door to the Cock Public House, the junior school across the road on the corner of Bedford Road and Church Road. The school logbook shows what school life was like for Victorian children.  Attendance was often poor as children had to help at home or on the farm.  This entry for October 1^st 1886 is typical: "First week after harvest.  Attendance very low: percentage 52". [SDWoottonCP1]

The logbooks also give us an idea of what children were taught at school.  The Scheme of work for the year ending October 31^st 1901 included:
Class II "England. Physical and Political History"
Class III "Oral Presentation of easy sentences and dictation of such sentences".
History Class I "Stories and biographies from 1066 AD to 1485".
Object lessons for Class II were to include (among other things) "parts of a flower, things soluble and insoluble in water, things that melt".

1903-1944 

A land mark Education Act was passed in 1902, coming into effect in 1903. It disbanded the School Boards and gave day to day running of education to newly formed Local Education Authorities, usually the county council, as in Bedfordshire. The old Board Schools thus became Council Schools whilst the old National, British and other non-Board schools became known as Public Elementary Schools. Wootton schools, as Board Schools became Council Schools.

Street party outside the junior school to celebrate the coronation of King George V in 1911 [Z50/136/23]

Bedfordshire & Luton Archives & Records Service has a scrapbook of cuttings of visits made to most Bedfordshire Schools by School Inspectors for a period from just before the First World War through the inter-war years [E/IN1/1]. The two schools, Infants' and Mixed were visited separately. The first reports were made in 1909 when of the Mixed School it was noted: "The department continues to improve. Order is good, the written exercises are neat and the general level of efficiency is creditable". Of the Infants' School, the inspector reported: "Order and tone are excellent. The School is skilfully organised, and carefully and intelligently taught, and its condition reflects very great credit upon Miss Squire and her assistants".

The Mixed School was next visited in 1910, when average attendance was 140: "This School is carefully taught and in most of the branches of instruction a fairly creditable level of attainment is reached. The chief fault to be found in the teaching is that it does not call for sufficient effort on the part of the children". The Infants' School was visited the next year: "This School remains in a thoroughly satisfactory state of efficiency. As usual order and tone are excellent and the character of the teaching and the attainments of the children are very praiseworthy".

The Mixed School was next visited in 1913, the Infants in 1914. Of the Mixed School it was noted: "Order and tone are good and in most respects the school is in a fair state of efficiency. But it must be expected, in future, that more advantage will be derived from the fact that the entrants to it from the Infants' School come unusually well prepared. At present they to a large extent do little more than "mark time" for a year". Whilst of the Infants it was observed of the buildings: "The condition of this school is still quite satisfactory".

The next inspection reports were made after the Great War. The Infants were visited first, in 1922 when it was found that things were not quite so flourishing as before the war but still reasonable: "This school is in good order and methods of instruction are carefully considered….It should be recorded that many of the children are rather old for their place in development". The Mixed School was visited the following year and it was reported: "The new Head Teacher of this school had made an excellent commencement. The general atmosphere has been entirely changed, apathy has disappeared, and keen interest, earnest effort, and the development of self-reliance are now the noticeable characteristics, at least in the upper part of the school…It will take some time and will require vigourous teaching to bring the lower classes quite into line with the upper….but the further progress of the school as a whole is anticipated with every confidence".

The next recorded visit to the Infants' School was in 1925, when average attendance was 35 and at the time of the visit two thirds of the children were absent with mumps: "It is quite clear, however, that the class is taught with much care". The Mixed School was visited the next year when the garden was examined and found to be "capably used as an educational instrument".

In 1927 Bedfordshire was valued under the terms of the Rating Valuation Act 1925; every piece of land and property was inspected to determine the rates to be paid on it. The valuer visiting the school house noted that it was a brick and tile building with a dining room, drawing room, kitchen and scullery downstairs, three bedrooms and a box room upstairs and an earth closet and barn outside. The valuer noted that it was an "Excellent house" with a "fair garden".

The Infants' School was visited again in 1930: "It is some years since a report was submitted on this excellent little school….Several short visits have been paid…The impression left was invariably favourable, and is confirmed by a visit paid today…the children are very responsive and happy, and the Head Teacher deserves warm congratulation and commendation as does the young assistant".

The final reports in the scrapbook date to 1934 for the Mixed School and 1935 for the Infants' School. Of the Mixed School it was reported: "This is a thoroughly well conducted school, situated in a fairly large village, of which, owing to the personality of the Head Teacher, to the fact that the school is a distributing centre of the County Library, and that, therefore, parents see lists of marks and examples of work on the wall, and to the interest which the school garden arouses, it is a live centre. The authorities of the Brick Works have generously provided a field of which full use is made. The work of the school is very good on the character training, citizenship, art, music, and physical sides. The other work is also very good; but the actual 'show' , if one may use such a term, owing to (1) the deliberate policy of the Head master to stretch the children by searching examinations, and (2) the presence of a decidedly lower range of intelligence in a good many instances, might be misleading….The children as a rule obtain good positions when they leave the school". The Infants' School report, average attendance now 50, noted: "The teaching is on thoroughly sound lines; the children are alert both in body and mind and enjoy their work to the full. the speech deserves special mention. There is practically no trace of accent, yet it is natural and fluent….This is a very happy school and a pleasure to inspect".

The outbreak of war in 1939 brought changes to the schools.  Children were evacuated to Wootton from Wykeham School in Willesden, London.  The following entries from the Infants' School logbook [SDWootonInf2] give a flavour: on September 11^th the entry records that: "Evacuated children with 4 teachers are using half of the school"; and a few days later on September 15^th: "Emergency stock for use of London teachers delivered this afternoon".  However, as the months went on many parents decided to bring their children back to London so that on January 15^th 1940 the head wrote: "As there are now only 28 evacuated children in school some of the Wootton infants will now be taught by the Wykeham teachers, the classes being combined".  Teaching was not the only concern.  The school building had to be safe:  June 25^th 1940 "The Director of Education visited the school this afternoon to see what protection could be improved against air-raids"

1944 to date

The third of the great Education Acts was that of 1944 which established the principle of County Primary Schools for children up to the age of 11, at which time they took an examination to determine the nature of the secondary school they would attend until they were 15, the most academically able going to grammar schools, the rest to secondary or secondary modern schools. Wootton Council Schools became Wootton County Primary Infant and Junior Schools respectively. The two schools were merged to form one Wootton County Primary School in 1954. A new school was built further along Bedford Road and opened in 1962, the two old schools being demolished; the sites are now housing.

Wootton Lower School July 2007

In the 1970s Bedfordshire County Council introduced comprehensive education, doing away with the 11+ examination and grammar schools and introducing a tier of school between the old County Primary and County Secondary Schools. Thus Lower Schools now taught children aged 4 to 9, Middle Schools from 9 to 13 and Upper Schools from 13 onwards. Wootton County Primary School became Wootton Lower School and is now in modern buildings in Bedford Road. In addition a new Wootton Upper School opened in 1976 in Hall End Road.

General references

• P3/8/3: details in vestry minute book: 1874;
• SB52/6-11: Wootton School Board plans of school: 1875;
• SB52/12: Wootton School Board specification for school: 1875;
• SB52/13: tenders to Wootton School Board for building school: 1876
• WE1309: draft conveyances to School Board: 1876;
• SB52/1-5: Wootton School Board financial records: 1876;
• SB52/14: memorandum of agreement by Wootton School Board regarding building of school: 1876;
• SB52/15: insurance policy for school buildings: 1878;
• Z212: teachers’ certificates: 1879-1889;
• Z50/142/509: photograph of school group outside the school: late C19th;
• Z559/2: tape recording of reminiscences of Wootton man about his school days: c.1901-1909;
• SB52/18: Wootton School Board return to LEA: 1903;
• CTM17/39: mortgage of school buildings to pay for enlargement: 1905;
• SMM11: Kempston School Managers Group minutes: 1924-1937;
• SMM20: Stewartby School Managers Group minutes: 1937-1974
• Z55/1/91/36: negative of school buildings: 1950s;
• CA2/75: primary and infants school building contract: 1960-1961;

Early education in Wootton

• Bedfordshire Parish registers Series Vol.43: William Wright, schoolmaster buried: 24 Nov 1633;
• ABP/W1667/51: will of Edmund Allen, schoolmaster: 1667
• P3/12: payments for schooling made throughout Overseer’s accounts: 1786-1811

Site of the former Infants' School in December 2007

Wootton Board Infants'/Council Infants'/County Primary Infants' School references

• SDWootton4: admission register: 1875-1893;
• SDWootton1: school logbook: 1877-1904;
• SB52/16: agreement for lease of school to School Board: 1883;
• SB52/17: correspondence regarding lease (including requirement to make drain): 1894-1899;
• SDWootton2: school logbook: 1904-1947;
• E/TE5/1: details of teachers: 1904;
• E/IN1/1: Inspector's reports: 1909-1935;
• E/TE5/2: details of teachers: 1912;
• RDBP1/320: plans for school: 1915;
• SDWootton3: school logbook: 1947-1953

site of the former Junior School in December 2007

Wootton Parochial/Board Junior/Council Junior/County Primary Junior/Lower School references

• SDWoottonCP1: school logbook: 1875-1915;
• E/TE5/1: details of teachers: 1904-1908;
• E/TE5/2: details of teachers: 1908-1912;
• E/IN1/1: inspector’s reports: 1909-1934;
• P3/29/1: report on case for immediate completion of new school as a full ten class school: 1962
• CA2/270-271: sanitary and classroom extensions: 1967-1972;
• CA8/199: building maintenance file: 1967-1972;
• CA2/508: extensions and alterations to buildings: 1972-1977;
• CA8/739: building maintenance file: 1973-1982;
• E/SA1/4/4: plans for the school’s development explained to Wootton Community Association: 1973-1974;
• CA8/1002: building maintenance file: 1976-1984;
• CA10/50: file on roof resurfacing: 1981;
• E/TE3/4: return of teaching staff: 1981;
• E/MS2/1/4: need for additional lunchtime supervision: 1985;
• E/MS3/2/2: kitchen and other details: c.1987;
• E/TE3/7: return of teaching staff: 1986;
• E/Pu4/4/130: school prospectus: 1995

Wootton Upper School September 2007

Wootton Upper School references

• E/SA1/4/4: comprehensive reorganisation and creation of school: 1969-1976
• CA2/931/1-9: construction project files: 1971-1983;
• CA2/920: Phase 4 construction project files: 1976-1982;
• PY/PH73/1: exterior and interior photographs of school under construction and on completion: 1977-1978;
• E/MS2/1/1: numbers of supervisory staff needed at lunchtimes: 1978;
• E/SC3/Gen24: working papers regarding proposal that school cease receiving pupils from Robert Bruce Middle School, Kempston, receiving instead pupils from Fulbrook Middle School, Aspley Guise: 1980-1981;
• E/TE3/2: return of teaching staff: 1981;
• E/OL1/6/1: participation in foreign schools' exchange: 1981-1984;
• E/SC3/Woo1-3: debate over Wootton Upper School catchment area: 1982-1984;
• E/PM3/2/4: information on Travellers' children at school: 1982-1987;
• E/OL1/1/9: report of LEA link visit to Cyprus by headteacher: 1983;
• E/CD3/13/5-6: establishment of pre-vocational courses: 1985;
• E/TE3/7: return of teaching staff: 1986;
• CC/HS3/4/1: health and safety correspondence: 1986-1988;
• E/ME4/2/1: notes on multicultural education at school: 1986-1990;
• E/MS3/2/2: kitchen and other details: c.1987;
• E/TE2/2/U/12: details of school: 1987;
• E/ME7/1/1: brief report on multicultural education at school: 1988-1990;
• E/MW6/3/2: school report on multicultural education: 1990;
• E/Pu4/4/53: school prospectus: 1995