Page 20 - RVM-HB-KTHFB
P. 20
Keep The Home Fires Burning
some of the melodramatic plays were unhealthy exiting for young people “. The
conference did not come to a firm conclusion on one side or the other, it was pointed out
that more boys than girls went to the pictures. And the young delinquent would claim that
he had seen the crime he had committed on the films
Picture going among the young was a favourite pastime, especially the over 14s who could
earn respectable wages in the towns factories. There had been a lot of concern about
school age workers even at the start of the war. The September meeting of the Redditch
Education Committee it was pointed out those 152 boys worked part time, while 40 girls
worked after school hours. There was concern that employers were breaking the
employment of Children Act. This act was meant to stop children working between nine
PM and 6 AM the committee believed this was being ignored daily.
Children’s Education
As the war progressed the rules governing the employment of children became more
flexible. In 1915 County Education Committee chair Mr Willis Bund instructed rural school
mangers to” keep a list of boys eleven years of age and upwards who were willing to
work on the land occasionally with the consent of their parents”, this too many was the
thin end of the wedge. Children who were nearly thirteen were allowed to leave school
early. If they had attended the school the required number of times, they could obtain a
leaving Certificate. In November 1918 there were 84 such certificates were granted. In
many families extra income was needed, for these families the last year of the war was
the hardest. The father of the family may have been killed or injured in the war and that
meant children who had a few more months at school needed to earn as soon as possible.
The education of children was bound to suffer in the national upheaval the first world was.
To save money one of the first resolutions of the war time County Education committee
was to economise by not erecting new buildings, or carrying out major repairs on existing
buildings. As the war dragged on and there was no end in sight even the minor repairs
were stopped when both materials and men to do the repairs became scarce. Many male
teachers had joined up at the start of war, retired teachers were asked to return and
female teachers asked to stay at work after they married. In Redditch the newly opened
handicraft centre had to close after the woodwork and metal work teachers joined up in
the first few months of the war. The few remaining male teachers in the county came
under increasing preasure to join the colours mostly by the chair of the education
committee whenever they or their union criticised the committee over any changes
allowing children to work below the age of thirteen. The chairman had already decided to
make no application for exemption for male teacher called up. It seems this may have
extended to other employees of the Local Education Authority as the Redditch school
district nurse was called up for military service in 1916.
The constant changes in the child's life worried the teachers; they could see how the
disruption was affecting their pupils. This was seen especially in children from a working
class background. However difficult the war made normal life, children were educated
some better than others. If you could afford it you could pay for children to go to the
Redditch High school, this took pupils at 11 years old, and otherwise you went to one of
the several elementary schools leaving was 13 years old.
The secondary school taught boys and girls up to 19 years old, and prepared students for
University. Classes included French, English, History, maths and the Sciences. Each year
the pupils of the school took part in the Cambridge local exams. In 1916 Mildred Harris
Page: 20 Source: Sue Tatlow
some of the melodramatic plays were unhealthy exiting for young people “. The
conference did not come to a firm conclusion on one side or the other, it was pointed out
that more boys than girls went to the pictures. And the young delinquent would claim that
he had seen the crime he had committed on the films
Picture going among the young was a favourite pastime, especially the over 14s who could
earn respectable wages in the towns factories. There had been a lot of concern about
school age workers even at the start of the war. The September meeting of the Redditch
Education Committee it was pointed out those 152 boys worked part time, while 40 girls
worked after school hours. There was concern that employers were breaking the
employment of Children Act. This act was meant to stop children working between nine
PM and 6 AM the committee believed this was being ignored daily.
Children’s Education
As the war progressed the rules governing the employment of children became more
flexible. In 1915 County Education Committee chair Mr Willis Bund instructed rural school
mangers to” keep a list of boys eleven years of age and upwards who were willing to
work on the land occasionally with the consent of their parents”, this too many was the
thin end of the wedge. Children who were nearly thirteen were allowed to leave school
early. If they had attended the school the required number of times, they could obtain a
leaving Certificate. In November 1918 there were 84 such certificates were granted. In
many families extra income was needed, for these families the last year of the war was
the hardest. The father of the family may have been killed or injured in the war and that
meant children who had a few more months at school needed to earn as soon as possible.
The education of children was bound to suffer in the national upheaval the first world was.
To save money one of the first resolutions of the war time County Education committee
was to economise by not erecting new buildings, or carrying out major repairs on existing
buildings. As the war dragged on and there was no end in sight even the minor repairs
were stopped when both materials and men to do the repairs became scarce. Many male
teachers had joined up at the start of war, retired teachers were asked to return and
female teachers asked to stay at work after they married. In Redditch the newly opened
handicraft centre had to close after the woodwork and metal work teachers joined up in
the first few months of the war. The few remaining male teachers in the county came
under increasing preasure to join the colours mostly by the chair of the education
committee whenever they or their union criticised the committee over any changes
allowing children to work below the age of thirteen. The chairman had already decided to
make no application for exemption for male teacher called up. It seems this may have
extended to other employees of the Local Education Authority as the Redditch school
district nurse was called up for military service in 1916.
The constant changes in the child's life worried the teachers; they could see how the
disruption was affecting their pupils. This was seen especially in children from a working
class background. However difficult the war made normal life, children were educated
some better than others. If you could afford it you could pay for children to go to the
Redditch High school, this took pupils at 11 years old, and otherwise you went to one of
the several elementary schools leaving was 13 years old.
The secondary school taught boys and girls up to 19 years old, and prepared students for
University. Classes included French, English, History, maths and the Sciences. Each year
the pupils of the school took part in the Cambridge local exams. In 1916 Mildred Harris
Page: 20 Source: Sue Tatlow
