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Goffs Oak - Going to School
Created 21 June, 2008
In the 19th century, working class educational opportunities were grim and children had little prospect of acquiring more than a few scraps of education.
A reasonable education could cost as much as two or three shillings a week (about 10p - 15p), a sum very seldom affordable by the working class parent.
Although there were certain individuals at the beginning of the century who were in favour of widespread free education there were a variety of obstacles, not to be solved until almost the end of the 19th century. The idea of secular education was not popular and there was a lack of interest by both the government and upper classes in seeing the cultural development of the working classes, no doubt reinforced by the revolutinary spirit sweeping Europe sparked by the French revolution.
Nor was there any real interest by the vast majority of the working class in education. Child labour was common and working class families were very reluctant to give up the earnings of their children for the benefit of education.
So where did Goffs Oak fit into this picture, a small village where the majority of the male population worked as agricultural labourers?
Perhaps the first recorded school inthe village was about 1850, a Dame School run from a cottage (demolished in the 1970s) in Goffs Lane on a site adjacent to the present entrance to the Comrades Club. The term "Dame School" is commonly used to describe small private schools where working classs children, before they were old enough to work, were taught to read and write for a fee which averaged 3 pence a week (about 2p). The teachers, usually elderly woman, frequently ran the school in their home. The quality of education varied enormously with some providing a good, although basic, education but others were no more than childminders for parents both at work.
For Goffs Oak the most important educational event was the 1870 Education Act, which required the establishment of elementary schools nationwide, although attendance was still voluntary and a fee would be charged. Compulsory education up to the age of 10 was not introduced until 1880 and not made free until 1891. Possibly in response to the 1870 Act the Church of England decided to build several primary schools in the area.
By coincidence Goffs Oak had just become a separate parish and it was decided to site one of the new schools near St. James Church. The school was built in 1872 on a site (valued at £25) donated by the vicar at a cost of £907 raised from donations from various sources including £100 from James Bentley of Woodgreen Park.
Opened on 6 January 1873 the school consisted of 2 rooms, a main room of 46ft x 18ft and a classroom of 17ft x 14ft., designed to take 130 pupils and a staff of 2 (headmistress and a monitress). The first entry in the schools record book reported that there had been 50 children admitted "all very backward". The period until the end of the 19th century was blighted by a series of problems for the school. The main one being the high turnover of staff; there were no fewer than 17 headmistresses between 1873 and 1900 possibly made worse by annual government inspections, many of them very critical. Another serious problem was absenteeism caused by bad weather. The roads were in a bad state and because of poverty the children were often without shoes or adequate clothing. Poor health among pupils was also a major cause of absenteeism. Childhood complaints such as measles, mumps, scarlet fever and whooping cough were very much frequent and serious. For example the school had to be closed for 8 weeks in 1885 during a diphtheria outbreak.
By 1906 there were over 100 pupils and 5 staff, (headmistress, 3 teachers and a monitoress) so must have been very overcrowded. However the building was not enlarged until 1925 when a small extension was added and the main room partitioned to provide extra classrooms.
In 1955 through lack of funds, the school was transferred from the Church of England to Herts County Council to become a County Primary. The County Council soon after began building a new school on a site in Millcrest Road. In 1958 the first year infants were transferred to the new building and on completion of the building in 1960 the remaining children were transferred to what is now Goffs Oak J.M.I.
It was about 1960 when the population of Goffs Oak began really to expand so that by 1972 it became necessary to further expand education facilities in the village by the building of Woodside J.M.I. in Jones Road.
How conditions have changed since Victorian schools! The regime was very strict, pupils walked long distances to school, on their way collecting firewood for the stove to heat their classroom when they arrived. There were no cleaners. Pupils and teachers were responsible for keeping the school and the grounds clean. The toilets were outside and not connected to the sewers and of course there was no electricity. A far cry from today's modern facilities.