Primary school education was made free and compulsory in New Zealand in 1877.
In practice this covered far fewer children than “compulsory” suggests. Parents were exempt from having to send their children to school if they lived more than two miles from the nearest one, which was often the case in rural areas, especially in the early years of compulsory education. Those who lived close enough to a school might be separated from it by a river that occasionally became impassable; or they might simply be kept at home if their labour was considered essential. And the school itself might only be open part of the time: even by the 1920s, when my father-in-law went to a little one-roomed school, the teacher only came out from town three days a week. On three other days of the week (yes, that busy lady taught from Monday to Saturday) she drove her gig to another one-roomed school on the other side of town.
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| Unidentified school group. Ref: 1/4-005265-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. natlib.govt.nz/records/23012344 |
The sole-charge teachers with their rooms of pupils ranging in age from five to 13 or even older must have needed all the skills they could muster to keep order and to impart some sort of education to such a mixed range of age and ability. But their pupils were probably better off than those crammed into the busiest of the city schools, like this group:
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| Classroom of school children. Making New Zealand :Negatives and prints from the Making New Zealand Centennial collection. Ref: MNZ-2816-1/4-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. natlib.govt.nz/records/22735320 |
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These posts have been so completely fascinating! I think the photographs are the best part.
http://bit2read.com/
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Thank you! I love the pictures, too – they really help make history come alive.
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When we lived in rural France in 2003 our daughter, then aged 9, went to the tiny village school. Like the primary school in your books the pupils ranged in aged and were taught by one teacher. There were 19 pupils in the school and the children were sat in rows depending on their age. It was a wonderful experience for our daughter, coming from a large school in England, and when we returned to England 3 years later the education she had received in subjects like maths and science were actually ahead of her fellow students. She’s now in her third year of Veterinary Science and always maintains it was her early years in a rural French school that gave her the idea to become a Vet. I love your books and Daisy reminds me so much of our own beautiful daughter. I can’t wait for Daisy’s next book.
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What a great experience for your daughter, Sandi! There are very few of the old single-teacher schools left in New Zealand, only a handful in the most isolated places. My late father-in-law went to just such a school in the real-life valley that’s a model for my imaginary one, but the school had been closed down by the time my husband was born – by then it was sealed roads and school buses, and much bigger schools.
I love Daisy, and am honoured that she reminds you of your own daughter!
I wonder if you’ve seen a French documentary film called Être et Avoir. It’s about a sole-charge school in rural France, and is absolutely lovely.