THE HISTORY OF OUR SCHOOL
 | In 1870 a law was passed which stated that every child should go to school. The government paid for the building of the school, but the parents had to pay for the lessons. By 1880 the government decided that ALL children should go to school up to the age of ten. Comber Grove school was built, but no-one would have recognised the name! Both the street and school were initially called Leipsic Road.
The photo opposite shows a small part of LEIPSIC ROAD | ||
ONE OF THE CLASSROOMS | Leipsic Road school was actually three schools in one. There was an infant school which taught boys and girls aged 3 to 7. Then the boys and girls were split up into two separate departments between the ages of 7 and 13, although initially very few children would have stayed on past 10. The school first opened on April 23rd 1877. It took a long time for people in the area to get used to the school being there!
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AERIAL VIEW OVER CAMBERWELL | During the first few years of the school's history many parents came to the school to ask the teachers to deal with naughty children!
AUGUST 27th 1877 Several parents complained because their children had lost their caps. Mistress spoke seriously to the children about the wickedness of taking things which were not their own. One cap was recovered.
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After the end of the first world war, the school began to settle down after a period of turbulence. Camberwell was still a very poor area and with many of the children's fathers having died in the war, many of the families found life very tough. At this time, very few houses had a bathroom. The school found new ways to help the children. JANUARY 20th 1920 Under the new bathing scheme of the London Council, eleven of the younger boys were taken by Miss Prideaux to the Church Street Baths where they were given a warm bath.
The opposite photo shows evacuees during the war
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Here is a short extract from a letter by Alan Nipper, an ex-pupil, about life at the school... I remember that each morning about half of all the pupils would go to the teacher's desk where she would give each a spoonful of Malt from a large jar. It was a food supplement a bit like Marmite I think, for those who were not fed properly at home, as some parents could not afford food and others were ignorant about nutrition. We would ppay a halfpenny a day for a third of a pint of milk. In those days someone who had a job would feel well of if they were paid as much as £2 a week!
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ALAN NIPPER is in the front row, second from left. | ||
Here are some of the lessons you might have learned in the 1890's... Religious instruction, Reading, Writing, Slate Arithmetic, Mental Arithmetic, Singing, Kindergarten Craft, Recitation, Swedish Drill, Needlework (Girls), Drawing (Boys), Object lessons.
Many of these you'll recognise.. but you certainly won't know the meaning of Object Lesson? Well, it meant that every age group had a set of objects to learn about. The children had to learn a carefully written description of all the objects and they had to be able to repeat it word for word!
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Evacuees waiting for the train. | ||
 | PROBLEMS!
Just like today, there were many problems brought to the attention of the headteacher.
Many parents had difficulty with their children and often asked the Head to deal with them...
September 18th 1877 Mrs Ellis wished her boy to be punished for playing truant. He was not allowed to go home for dinner.
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We have maps and log books from many years ago... | CRIME! Quite a few crimes were reported in school log-books over the years. Some were minor incidents, others far more serious... January 20th 1885 One of the teachers had a mutton chop, turnips and a large bag of biscuits stolen from the teachers room. After spending a long time investigating the matter, it transpires that two girls in the Girls Department names Louise and Alice Morgan took them home and hid them in various places. Mrs Morgan came to the school and said the children were well fed. She promised she would show Mistress's letter to their father.
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IF YOU HAVE ENJOYED THIS TASTER FROM OUR SCHOOL HISTORY DOCUMENTS, MUCH MORE CAN BE SEEN AND READ AT SCHOOL IN THE BOOK SHOWN OPPOSITE.
THERE ARE MAPS AND DOCUMENTS, AND FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS, ALL TELLING OF LIFE AT THE SCHOOL, AND IN CAMBERWELL, ALL THOSE YEARS AGO.
THE PUNISHMENT BOOK IS VERY INTERESTING!
Back to the HOME PAGE....
You can find out more about Camberwell and Southwark elsewhere on this site... | ||
