NATIONAL SCHOOLS

At the beginning of the 19th century, the rising population caused practical difficulties in the education of large numbers of children with a scarcity of experienced teachers and very limited finance.

Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell, independently, devised a scheme known as the Monitorial System, in which a master taught a number of older pupils, or monitors, who were in turn set to teach others.

The Church of England supported these schools and in 1811 formed the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church. Their schools, known as National Schools, escalated rapidly from 52 in 1812 to 3,670 schools in 1830. This, together with other educational experiments, focused government attention upon cheap schools for the poor and resulted in the 1833 Education Act when the first grant to education since that given by Oliver Cromwell in 1649 was made. The aim was to aid voluntary effort, not to supply a national system of education.

Thomas Fox, who had been Francis Chantrey's schoolmaster, died in 1822 and the Rev. Edward Bagshawe, the Rector of Eyam, was appointed by his father, Sir William C. Bagshawe to introduce the National System at Norton Free School. The Charity Commisioners 'thought (it) expedient to reserve a complete control over the person who should be appointed to act as Master, until the new system was regularly established." They further reported that 'In consequence of the absence of the family of Sir William Bagshawe, no steps have hitherto been taken for altering the mode of education and Mr. C.J. Fox, the son of the late schoolmaster, was appointed by Mr. Bagshawe to act as his deputy; and to teach the scholars upon the old system with a salary of £45'. The advocates of the national system of education were by no means satisfied with the meagre grant of 1833. There was a need for more efficient education and for the training of teachers. It was Dr. James Kay Shuttleworth who saw the value of replacing the monitors by older boys or pupil teachers who would serve an apprenticeship under an experienced master and then go on to a well organised training college. By 1845, the Church of England had established 22 training colleges.

In 1839, government grants became conditional upon the inspection of schools and a system of payment by results. The inspectors' terms of reference were to find out what was going on in schools and to make sure that government money was being spent in a proper manner. Regularity of attendance and examination results were the basis of payments. The inspectors tactfully encouraged effort and discussed ideas. The Church were permitted to nominate inspectors for religious education. Inspectors were also concerned with the provision of playgrounds, and libraries and with parent-teacher relationships.

A grant of 4s.0d. (20p) per scholar was payable based on the average number of children in attendance at morning and afternoon sessions of the school throughout the year. The remainder of the grant depended upon the result of the annual examination in reading, writing and arithmetic and 2s.8d. (13p) was deducted for each subject failed. At Norton in 1862, the percentages were as follows-

Teachers had no choice but to attempt to earn the maximum grant because their meagre salary depended upon it. They concentrated on the examinable subjects so the curriculum was narrowed. There was some temptation for them to falsify the registers and in some cases, children who were suffering from infectious diseases were made to attend school for the examinations.

Within 5 years, there was a slight easing of regulations and grants became payable for subjects such as grammar, geography and history. More concessions were made after the 1870 School Board Act and payment by results was finally abolished in 1897 though the effects of the system upon the curriculum and teaching methods had very long lasting effects.