The 19th century saw many changes in schooling. At the beginning of the century children were still expected to work so could only attend school on Sundays, their only free day. Sunday Schools were run by churches and their popularity continued into the late 19th century. The current museum building was opened as a Sunday School for the Congregational Chapel in 1879.
The success of the Sunday Schools was a factor in the move towards free education for all children. School became compulsory in 1880 for children between five and ten and became free in 1891. By 1899 school was compulsory up to the age of 12 and children could only go to work if they had passed the fifth standard. Despite these efforts, truancy was still high as many families needed the income earned by their children. Many children had to balance working with going to school.
Further Education Acts in the beginning of the 20th century continued to improve schooling. Local Councils were encouraged to provide secondary education in 1902, although it did not become free and compulsory until 1944. Free school meals for those in need started in 1906 and school medical inspections began a year later in 1907.
Royston Schools in the 20th Century
At the turn of the 20th century, children had to attend school until the age of 12, raising to 14 in 1918.
Schooling in Royston was provided by the Church of England National Society who founded the National School on Market Hill in 1837, and the non-conformist British and Foreign School Society who had started the British School on Fish Hill in 1840. There were also 2 private schools in the town; Bridge House School on Kneesworth Street and Victoria House School on Old North Road, as well as several Sunday schools.
In 1905 the British School was taken over the Town Council. Due to a lack of school places, the decision was taken to replace it with a new school in Queen’s Road, which opened on 21st September 1910.
Pupils attended the Queen’s Road and Market Hill Schools until the age of 14. The Eleven Plus examination was introduced in 1944. Pupils who passed could go to a grammar school in Hitchin or Letchworth. Those who did not pass stayed on at Queen’s Road School until the Royston Secondary Modern School opened in 1954.
The rising population of Royston in the 1950s and 1960s led to the opening of several other schools; Tannery Drift First School in 1959, St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School in 1960 and Icknield Way First School in 1966. Market Hill Infant School closed in 1960.
The Education Act 1964 allowed local authorities to open middle schools and this was followed by the three tier system in 1967. In Royston this led to several changes. In 1969 Greneway School opened in the Secondary Modern School buildings, while the Secondary Modern School moved to new buildings further down Garden Walk and reopened as Meridian Upper School. The same year also saw the closure of Queen’s Road School.
Further schools opened in the 1970s as Royston’s population continued to grow. Studlands Rise First School opened in 1974 and a year later Roysia Middle School and First Schools opened. Roysia First School later became Roman Way First School.
Academies were established through the Learning and Skills Act 2000. In 2011 the Greneway, Roysia and Meridian Middle Schools joined to form the Royston Schools Academy Trust, Hertfordshire’s first multi-school academy. In 2017 it was suggested that the three schools merge to form King James Academy, which opened in September 2019.
National School, Market Hill
Market Hill School opened in 1835 for both girls and boys. In 1886 it was enlarged so it could take 300 children. Harold Jellis who attended the school in the early 1900s remembered that all the classes were taught in the same hall, with the classes separated by curtains. Classes were cold in the winter as the hall only had one turtle stove to heat it, an example of which you can find by the Victorian High Street Case. Several boys were put in charge of keeping the fire going.
The mornings started with religious instruction from the curate and ended each day with the whole school singing a hymn:
“Lord keep us safe this night,
Secure from all our fears,
May angels guard us through the night,
Til morning light appears.”
British School, Fish Hill
The British School opened around 1840 and was expanded in 1888 for 170 children. It was a mixed school and was also referred to as the Church of England School and the Council School after it was taken over by the Town Council in 1905. British Schools usually had one teacher who looked after a large class and was helped by the older pupils, called monitors.
Among the rules pupils had to follow were the following:
To attend school constantly at nine in the morning and two in the afternoon
To attend school with hands and face clean, hair combed and shoes brushed.
On all occasions to speak the truth.
To avoid all bad company.
To avoid cruelty and never tease or in any way harm brute creatures.
To be silent in school.
To enter and leave school orderly.
To obey the rules and order of the school.
Queen’s Road School
Queen’s Road School opened in 1910 replacing the British School. The teaching staff from the British School moved over to Queen’s Road and included Mr Preston as Head and Miss Clark as Head of Infants. Girls and boys had different entrances and playgrounds but were mostly taught together. In addition to the usual lessons, boys could be given a piece of garden to care for and cookery lessons for the girls were held in the old British School building on Fish Hill.
Private Schools
As well as the publicly funded schools, there were several private schools in Royston including Bridge House School and Victoria House School and the Convent School. Parents would pay by term or by subjects taken. Class sizes were smaller and included subjects such as botany, scripture and French.
Pupils at Bridge House School recalled that the day started at 9.15am with hymns, prayers and Bible readings before they began their learning sitting on long tables in one of the three classrooms. With only a small yard for outdoor games, they were instead taken for daily walks or to the fields on Green Drift to play games. School ended at 3.45pm.
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