1. PATER noster, qui es in cœlis; sanctificatur nomen tuum: Adveniat regnum tuum; fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cœlo, et in terra. Panem nostrum cotidianum da nobis hodie: Et dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris: et ne nos inducas in tentationem: sed libera nos a malo. Quia tuum est regnum, et potestas, et Gloria, in saecula. Amen. School in the 17 th century At a grammar school (like the one in Huntingdon) in the 17 th century, the focus would be on learning Latin, with a little Greek and Hebrew on the side. Skills such as maths and handwriting were only looked at very occasionally. Boys usually went to a kind of nursery school called a 'petty school' first then moved onto grammar school when they were about seven. The school day began at 6 am in summer and 7 am in winter (people went to bed early and got up early in those days). Lunch was from 11 am to 1 pm. School finished at about 5pm. Boys went to school 6 days a week and there were few holidays. This picture shows Oliver Cromwell’s schoolmaster. 1.What can you see in the picture? 2.What does this tell you about schools in the 17 th century? 3.What sort of schoolmaster do you think this man would be? Pupils who went to grammar schools in the 17 th century were expected to learn Latin passages off by heart. Have a go at learning the one on this page. How easy is it? Do you think you would have liked going to school in the 17 th century? Why? Add some comments to your table.

2. School in Victorian times This picture shows what the Victorian school room would have looked like 1.What can you see in the picture? 2.What does this tell you about schools in Victorian times? Girls and boys learned together in primary schools, but were separated in secondary schools. Both boys and girls learned reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling and drill (PE). Boys learned technology: woodwork, maths and technical drawing, to help with work in factories, workshops or the army when they grew up. Girls had lessons in cooking and sewing, to prepare them for housework and motherhood. Children were often taught by copying and repeating what the teacher told them. Lessons included teaching in right and wrong, and the Christian religion. BOYS in Victorian schools would have practiced drills. Have a go at marching up and down the room in strict time. Imagine doing that for a whole lesson. GIRLS would have learned deportment, which included how to stand and speak properly. Posture was also very important. Place a book on your head and have a go at walking around the room. How easy is it? Do you think you would have liked going to school in Victorian times? Why? Add some comments to your table. School began at 9.00am and finished at 5.00pm. There was a two hour lunch break to allow enough time for children to go home for a midday meal, although in rural areas they might eat at the school. Boys and girls were taught separately.

3. School during WW2 Thousands of children left home for the first time during the war as evacuees. School lessons and exams went on more or less as usual, though children also learned 'air raid drill' and how to put on a gas mask. Schools in rural areas remained open but they often had to share their facilities with the evacuees. This meant the introduction of the double shift system. This involved local children using the classrooms in the morning while the evacuees would attend school in the afternoon. Huntingdon accepted a lot of evacuees into the town, and local children would have found it strange to meet all of these new people. As one person remembers.... “We sat in rows, two at a desk, according to abilities - A Row, B Row, C Row, etc, so each column of kids worked at the same speed. It was easier to teach that way. The boys were upstairs and the girls on the ground floor. They were never to meet. We did not mix and had separate playgrounds. The toilets were outside, but coats were hung in the cloakrooms inside - upstairs for the lads and downstairs for the girls. The infants were in a different block and had their own playground. School lasted from 9am to 4pm with a 90- minute lunchbreak.” This extract is from one person’s memories of life during the war. 1.Does school sound like fun? 2.What does this tell you about schools during the war? School during the war were keen to train children ready to join in the war effort when they were old enough. PE was though to be important to keep them healthy. Get everyone in your group to line up, then try doing star jumps at the same time. Now touch your toes between each star jump. Imagine doing this outside in winter in shorts and a T-shirt! Do you think you would have liked going to school during the war? Why? Add some comments to your table.

4. School in the 1970s By the 1970s there were a lot of comprehensive schools. This meant that the school was open to anyone. It did not matter how clever you were. As a result, schools now had lots more pupils and needed bigger buildings. From the 1970s onwards, some pupils in Huntingdon had their lessons in Hinchingbrooke House. 1.Do you think the House would be suitable for a school? 2.What sort of usual school things would be missing? 3.Would you like to go to school in a building like this? By the 1970s, schools were teaching practical subjects as well as reading and writing. Boys would learn woodwork whilst girls did home economics (cooking and sewing). Many schools were now mixed, so for the first time boys and girls went to the same school and were in the same classrooms. Place the dinner plates one inch from the edge of the table. If there is a pattern in the middle of the plate, make sure that it is right side. Place the knife on the right side of the plate, blade inward, one inch from the edge of the table, handle end of knife at the bottom. Make sure the knife is next to the plate, not underneath the plate. The fork is place on the left side of the dinner plate one inch from the edge of the table, making sure it is also next to the plate verses underneath the plate. The spoon is placed above the plate, with the handle on the right and the bowl on the left. The napkin is folded in half and placed next to the fork with the crease farthest away from the fork. The glass is placed directly above the knife approximately one inch. To the left are some instructions on how to lay a table, something that would have been taught in home economics. Have a go at laying the perfect table. Do you think this would have been a fun thing to do in lessons? Do you think you would have liked going to school in the 1970s? Why? Add some comments to your table.