The School 75 Years Ago

Taken from the School Log

In 1926 the school was having a few problems. The weather had been so bad that in January nearly half the children could not get through the deep snow. Then there were floods and for much of the winter and spring the ground was so wet that the boys could not do their gardening. Woodwork classes were substituted. The newly appointed Headmaster, Mr Walter Gibbon, installed in the School House next door to the school, also had to cope with staff sickness and various illnesses amongst the children. In April a third of the children were away with either measles or mumps. And the 130 boys and girls were still being taught in two classrooms.

Yet by May, when the Church of England Inspector, Mr Gorham, called, the School was clearly overcoming its problems. His report said:

“Much good work has been done in this school during the past year, & I can heartily sympathize with Mr Gibbons in the trouble he has had to meet in his first year in not having a full staff for many weeks. Wherever I thought knowledge a little weak, this is amply accounted for by the non-continuity of teaching owing to staffing troubles.

Having said so much I would now like to say that in every class the children were keen to do their best & that the repetition was always well known & the written exercises were most tidy and praiseworthy.

The top division has kept notes of their work through the year, which I was able to see & found them very neat and informing. Given better fortune this year both as regards staff and the health of the children, there is no reason why the knowledge of the children should not reach a high level.

Difficulties are being met courageously. There is a tone of willing endeavour throughout”.

Mr Gorham was not the only visitor. There was a doctor who checked over the pupils. The nurse came for the “head inspection” on 13 July, with a return visit in August to check on the “heads of those found unclean”. Mr Sturges, who was called ‘The Correspondent’, called to check the school and the Kent Education’s Gardening Inspector paid his annual visit. A gentleman – a retired major – came to extol the virtues of National Saving Certificates; and Mr Goodwin, the Chairman of the Governors, as we would call him today, and the main farmer in the village living at Paul’s Farm, often called in both formally and informally, as did the Vicar, Mr Sealy.

There were a good number of ‘special days’ which we do not have now. Shakespeare Day on 23 April meant lessons and essays of Shakespeare’s plays – with a prize given in the top class. On Empire Day – 25 May – “suitable lessons were given by the Headmaster. The children marched past the Union Jack and patriotic songs were sung. Afterwards, the children dispersed for games”. There was also Sunday School day in August.

Examinations were very much part of the curriculum even in those days, with the main ones at the beginning of August.

Then it was time for the holidays – five weeks from mid-August to the end of September (allowing time for the children to do their hop picking), with three weeks at Christmas and a week and a half at Easter.

All the former pupils from those days are still inclined to look back with fondness on their time at the school.