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Previous Page- In May 1885, Mr. Huke received his Parchment Certificate, so now, there were two certificated teachers - the Master and the Assistant Master with three pupil teachers (of third second and first year).

The School Fees were 3d. a week in December l885 or 2d. for a broken week (i.e. Monday to Wednesday). The Vicar brought the registers for the New Year to the school as well as other school stores such as foolscap, pens and exercise books. The Vicar was also called in for other reasons. Smoking stoves in January 1886, made it possible for the teachers to have their lessons in the morning. The Vicar called to see what could be done to remedy this. In December of the same year the weather was very cold. At 9am in the classroom it was 33°F. The gas was lit nearly all day to keep the room warm. Evens when the weather was warmer the December afternoons were so dark that the gaslight had to be lit after 3pm or even before.

It was still possible for children to evade compulsory education in 1886, as three boys were admitted who had not previously attended school and did not know their letters. The Managers were asked if these boys might be admitted to the Infants' School until their work was of a suitable standard for them to work with Standard I and the Vicar consented to this.

The schools were allowed to close for half days or whole days for a variety of reasons. A holiday was given on 23rd October 1882 celebrate the return of the Marines from Egypt. On July 23^rd 1886 there was a Naval review at Spithead in the afternoon. That morning the Master gave notice that School would open and registers would be closed before 1 o'clock so that the children might go at 3 o'clock. At short notice in June 1887 a holiday was given for the Jubilee Rejoicing on the Occasion of Queen Victoria celebrating 50 years of her reign. The holiday was announced to the School the previous day.

School closures for 1890 and 1891 included a half-day holiday so that children and teachers could go to Portsmouth to see the May Day Show; a whole day for the visit of the Queen to Portsmouth; a day for the annual Temperance Society’s outing to Seaview; a half-day closure for the opening of the new public Recreation Ground, as well as a half-day while some of the staff and some boys attended the Diocesan Choral Festival held at Alverstoke. The children were also given a half-holiday because of the repairing of the playground. When faulty places were being filled with tar the peculiar smell from the boiling tar rendered work in the school unpleasant.

The cane was sometimes given for reasons other than behaviour, such as carelessness in the weekly examinations by the Master. When the boys were very troublesome tale day 'many’  boys were caned. The pupil teachers were not allowed to hit or cane the boys and there was trouble when one of them did.

Conditions were difficult for some families. A mother kept her son home to bring her work from the factory and to mind the baby. There were problems of sanitation and illness in the schools. Although the Sanitary Inspector came round to inspect the toilets there were times when these did not flush. An outbreak of smallpox caused much concern in March l887. There was talk of closing the schools because of it, so an H.M.I. and his assistant examined the whole school in all subjects in one morning! The Master had expected the percentage of passes to be higher than the 83% attained and blamed the ‘hurry’ of the examinations. By June l887 the Vaccination Officer had come to the school to vaccinate any children who wished it. 34 were vaccinated during play time.

There was evidence of other schools in the town in 1887. Children had been admitted to St. John’s School from the Wesleyan Schools and from ‘Old’ Elson and St. Matthews. From farther afield, one boy was admitted from the Regimental School at Gibraltar. The numbers of children at the school continued to grow until in May l888 the highest average weekly attendance ever attained was recorded, - 270. By September some boys were refused admittance because there was not sufficient accommodation. The Master was again unable to admit new scholars the following year and the Vicar asked seven boys living near Alverstoke School and belonging to the Alverstoke Ecclesiastical District to leave this school and go to Alverstoke School.  More boys were requested to leave about a fortnight later, seven to Alverstoke and one to Elson.

The year 1888 had been a very trying one, owing to large numbers and staffing difficulties. The certificated teachers and ex Pupil-teachers had worked very hard but the younger Pupil-teachers had not been much use, as they could not possibly be expected to take charge of such large classes. In spite of large classes a high standard of work was reached. An examination schedule showed 87% of passes. The Master aimed high with the Syllabus too, as is shown in the list of poems for Repetition (1890-91).

Standards V to VIII  Trial Scene from ‘The Merchant of Venice’ Shakespeare Standard IV  ‘Spanish Armada’ Macaulay   Standard II ‘Wreck of the Hesperus’ Longfello  Standard II  ‘We are Seven’  Standard I  ‘Our Sailor Boy’ Mewin     Pupil-teachers/ 3^rd year Trial Scene from ‘The Merchant of Venice’ Shakespeare                                                                                 Next Page