A SCHOOL IN A STRAW-PLAITING DISTRICT, FOR BOTH SEXES AND ALL SCHOOL-GOING AGES, UNDER A MISTRESS.

SIR, I send you an account of my school here that you may insert it in your Journal of Education if you think proper.

It originated in a circular I received from the National Society containing this remark,—“ In parishes where the population is small, the cheapest and often the best arrangement for the education of the poor is to be made by the regular employment of a female teacher only." When I had obtained the necessary funds by private subscriptions and a treasury grant, and had contracted for building a room 30 feet by 20 feet, I wrote to the secretary of the National Society to request him to point out a school in the neighbourhood of Hitchin, where the plan of teaching boys and girls by a female teacher only was successfully practised, and received a reply from Mr. Johnson, that the School Committee regretted that they knew of no such school.

The plan appeared to me to be not only good, but the only one by which the rural population could be educated, with the means at the disposal of the clergy. I, therefore, determined to try how it could be carried into effect. I was not impeded by any School Committee. I made a grant of the site, nominated Trustees with myself, and appointed myself Treasurer and Secretary. All I asked for was money.

My object was 1st., to have a proper room for the Sunday School, consisting of about 100 scholars who assembled in the church :—2ndly, to have a Daily School where all the children of the parish might be educated together under my direction. It is proper to observe, that nearly all the children went to one or other of two schools where they were taught to read, but chiefly employed in straw-plaiting. I knew that the chief obstacle to my wish lay in the parents, who would be unwilling to give up any part of their children's earnings. I, therefore, gave notice that my school would be a plaiting-school, in which the children would pay only one penny a week, instead of three pence, which was charged at the other schools. I appointed as mistress a young woman who lived with her parents in the village, and supported herself by straw-plaiting, but had received instruction at the Hitchin British School, of which the Vicar is the Treasurer, and was one of my Sunday School Teachers. I opened the school for daily instruction on the first Monday in January, 1840. But very few children came, except those for whose schooling I had previously paid, who all came. But to my surprise the mistress told me that her sister, aged 16, also a Sunday School Teacher, who lived with her parents, and supported herself by straw-plaiting, requested to be allowed to attend the school, as one of the scholars. To this I assented, but said that she must conform to the rules like the rest. My first consideration was, how to induce the parents to send their children to my school.

The means I adopted were these:-1st., To allow as much time as practicable for straw-plaiting, reserving only one hour a day for instruction in reading, and half-an-hour a day for instruction in writing. I

was very desirous that the girls should learn needle-work, and encouraged them to bring work instead of straw for plaiting, but insisted on it only one day in the week, Tuesday, on which, being market-day at Hitchin, they seldom had the straws prepared. 2ndly, By providing that they should be well instructed in reading, so that their parents might observe their progress. 3rdly, By providing instruction and amusement during the time they were at work, so that the school should be very agreeable to the children. 4thly, By providing instruction in writing and arithmetic for those few boys whose parents wished them not to plait.

By these means the school did increase, but principally by the addition of very young children; but of these most of the girls and even some of the boys were taken away by their parents as soon as they could earn anything by plaiting, and sent to another school, where they found that the children did more plait. Still I think that the school has done much good by imparting the elements of reading at a very early age, so that they should be more fit to receive instruction on Sundays, after they were taken away from the daily school.

Besides the sister of the mistress three girls attended who were in the first class of the Sunday School, and could read the Bible fluently and intelligently. These four girls, together with two boys not much inferior to them, constituted the first class. Of the boys one was taken away and sent to the plaiting school; the other staid till he went to field work, and still attends the Sunday School. One of the girls staid till she was 15, when she went to service; the two younger are still in the school.

In the year 1841, I built a school-room at my other parish, Pirton. The fittings were completed at the beginning of last year. I proposed that the mistress of the Ickleford School should go to Pirton, and that her sister should take her place at Ickleford. They assented to this proposal; but their parents objected, not being willing to part with either of them. The younger, after staying in the school till she was 18, left it to live at home, and support herself by straw-plaiting. But, a few months after, her sister was unable to attend the school from illness, and she took her place, being willing to give it up when her sister could resume it. She has acted as mistress for above six months. From this account of the scholars, whose ages are from 2 to 15, and whose attainments differ in a much greater proportion, it is evident that there is some difficulty in giving them all appropriate instruction. If those only, whose attainments were nearly equal, were placed in the same class, competent teachers could not have been found for all the classes, and even incompetent teachers must be paid for their time, or their parents would take them away from the school. My object, therefore, was to make the classes as few as was consistent with the improvement of the scholars. I had observed in all the National Schools which I visited what appeared to me great evils, arising from the practice of taking places in receiving religious instruction. My opinion is that no method could have been devised by human ingenuity more effectual either to prevent or destroy religious feeling. I determined, therefore, to try whether a school could not be carried on without it.

Y

I have since read in Mr. Hopwood's book that others have objected to it. I will now describe the school in its present state. I made the plan myself, because my object was utility combined with cheapness, instead of ornament which appears to be the grand object of professional architects.

A platform. B table. C, C, C, C, C, C, doors. D stove. Dotted line, air-drain. E boy's lobby. F girls' lobby.

I send you a sketch of the ground-plan the floor is brick, but oak joists are laid down, to which the parallel forms are fixed by screws; each of these is 8 feet long and the space between them 4 feet, so that two of the short forms which are not fixed may be equal in length to each of the long ones. The heights of the forms are, fourth class, 9 inches; third, 12 inches; second, 14 inches; first, 16 inches; eight stools 18 inches. There is a table with four deep drawers for books and school apparatus, and one narrow drawer at the end, which admits the knees under. There is a chair on the platform from which the whole school may be overlooked. It is warmed by an Arnott's stove, which with the pipe is removed when not wanted, and the chimney fixed at the top becomes a ventilator. It is placed on a grating under which external air is admitted through a drain pipe; there are two ventilators in the roof (besides the chimney) which can be opened and shut at pleasure. There are two front windows and two side windows which turn on swivels. The two back windows do not open for an obvious reason. The play-grounds are as large as the ground admits,

well as external

On Sundays the

but not so large as is desirable. There are internal as doors to the lobbies, which are furnished with pegs. boys and girls are kept separate and confined to their classes, but there is a difficulty in providing eight competent teachers. Eight register slates hang on the walls, one behind each class, on which the attendance is marked, distinguishing those present at prayers. These are afterwards copied in a book, so that the attendance of the daily school for a month, and of the Sunday School for six months, may be seen at one view. There are three desks, each 8 feet long, which on Sundays are placed upright against the wall, on each side of the platform; but on Monday morning are fixed, two between the forms of the first class of the boys, and the other between those of the girls next to the door, one end to the wall, and the other by a leg to the oak joist let into the floor; each of these has two holes for ink wells, so as to admit of four children to write on each. These ink-wells are taken away when not wanted, and six, seven, or eight children can write on slates on each.

On Monday morning the moveable forms are placed parallel to the fixed forms, in the space occupied on the Sunday by the third and fourth classes of boys, the highest form being placed next the wall, and the lowest next the table, so as to form a gallery in which all the children in the school may be placed according to their height. The mistress comes at half-past 8, but the school does not begin till 9. Then the children repeat the answers of the Religious Primer in verse to the third teacher sitting on a stool, with her back next the table, she and they plaiting all the time; the first and second teachers writing from memory in a copy-book the collect and epistle of the preceding Sunday ;— the mistress being engaged in receiving the pence, marking the attendance and payment, placing the children as they arrive, and keeping order. At half-past 9 the outer gates are shut, the plait put away, and the children directed to kneel on the forms on which they have been seated. Prayers are then read by one of the teachers, the mistress being engaged in observing the behaviour of the children. After prayers the children resume their seats, except those who write on copy-books, who go to the desks. The second teacher instructs the remaining children in the elements of Arithmetic, by questioning them simultaneously, using the abacus for illustration. The third teacher and as many of the children as will pay for copy-books write from copies at the desk under the instruction of the mistress; the first teacher continues writing the Epistle. At 10, those who came before the gates were shut are allowed, if they please, to go out to play, except the elder girls who are taught Arithmetic by the mistress. They are seated at the desks; she gives out a sum which they work out silently. She goes round from one to another, and rubs out any figures which may be wrong, that they may correct it themselves. The first and second teachers take the questions from Hind's Arithmetic. The mistress has the key to correct their sums if necessary. At 25 minutes after 10 they are required to leave their own sums to look over those of the other children, and help those who are slow in working them, while the mistress calls in those who are at play: they also assist in altering the arrangements of the forms. The infants occupy the fourth class

of the girls; one of the lowest forms is placed parallel to the wall, at the distance of 8 feet 6 inches, so as to allow a passage to the inside of the rectangle a higher form is placed behind it, which, with one of the forms of the third class, accommodates children whose progress is not according to their height. Here is thus a length of 32 feet of form on which as many children may be seated. They are taught by the third teacher the Infant's Help to Reading, and questioned simultaneously; so that even those who cannot read learn from the questions and answers. The board from which they read is hung on the wall, to which they all turn their faces, and a curtain is drawn to prevent their noise disturbing the more advanced children. The third class occupies the place of the third class of the boys, (the forms having been removed), and is taught by the second teacher. They now are reading the Miracles, with Iremonger's Questions. All the classes turn their faces to the wall, in order to deaden the sound as much as possible, and to allow boards or maps to be hung against it, when required. This will be required for the next book they are to read, if they have not yet begun it,—Osterwald's Abridgment of the Bible. The first and second classes of boys and second class of girls occupy the place of the second class of boys, and are taught by the first teacher the New Testament, with Philipp's Questions, and a map for illustration. The mistress is engaged in keeping order, and in looking over and underlining the mistakes or omissions the first and second teacher may have made in writing from memory, also in looking over their sums. At 11 the second class of girls go to their own place to employ themselves in plaiting or needle-work; the first and second classes of boys go to the desk to work sums under the instruction of the first teacher; the third class go to the desk to write on slates, under the instruction of the mistress; the fourth class is separated from the fifth, and goes to the place of the fourth class of boys, and reads the Primer for Sunday Schools, under the instruction of the second teacher, who questions them upon it. The fifth class is formed into one rectangle, in the place of the fourth class of girls, and is instructed by the third teacher from Reading Disentangled.

At half-past 11 the younger children are allowed to go home, or to play in the play-grounds, or in wet weather to march at the two extremities of the school-room. The elder are allowed ten minutes relaxation, and then all who are not in the first class are set to needlework, plaiting, or writing on slates at the desks. At a quarter to 12 the first class, including the teachers, stand round the table, and read to the mistress seated on a chair on the platform, who from her seat can overlook all the children in the school. They now read Sunday exercises on the Liturgy in the morning, and the New Testament with Philipp's Questions in the afternoon. They have read various explanations of the catechism. The second class of girls read Stillingfleet's explanation of the Catechism in the afternoon, so that the first class of boys, who read with both classes, read the New Testament and the explanation of the Liturgy in the morning, and the explanation of the Catechism and the New Testament in the afternoon. At a quarter past 12, or as soon after as the subject admits, the first class finishes. Then