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"The promotion
of useful knowledge among the working classes"
– aim of
Hanley's Mechanics Institution, founded in 1826.
Education in the mid 1800's:
Not many generations ago, few children received a full-time
education and, of those who did, most were unable to
continue their studies beyond elementary level unless they
were exceptionally bright or of wealthy backgrounds. In
the first half of the nineteenth century it was not uncommon
for local children over the age of five to work sixty
hours a week in the potbanks and mines. A report on the
Staffordshire Potteries by the 'Commission on the Employment
of Children and Young Persons', published in 1843,
revealed that regular employment commenced between
the ages of 7 and 8, not infrequently 5 to 6 and, in certain
instances, 3 to 4. No differentiation was made between
girls and boys, who were usually employed by the workers
themselves and not by the manufacturers. The great
majority of work-places were badly drained, poorly ventilated
and unclean. Children commonly worked for 12 hours
per day and sometimes for 15, 16 and even 18. Parents urged
on by poverty and improvidence, generally sought employment
for their children as soon as they could earn the lowest
amount of wages, paying little regard to the probable injury
to their offspring's health by early labour, and still less to
the certain injury to their minds by early removal from school,
or even by the total neglect of their education.
on working conditions for children in the potteries.
Development of
schools:
Day schools appeared locally in the
early nineteenth century, when education
was neither free nor compulsory. By 1842,
there were only 2831 day school places in the Potteries,
and not all of those were filled. By contrast, attendance
at Sunday Schools approached 18,000. The majority
of day schools were run by The National Society for Promoting
the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established
Church, founded in 1811 and closely linked to the
Church of England. The British and Foreign Schools Society,
largely supported by Nonconformists, had schools at
Hanley, Cobridge, Tunstall and Burslem.
Compulsory state education:
Times changed and, following the Forster Education Act of
1870, a compulsory state elementary education system was
introduced; many new schools were built to house the sudden
upsurge of pupils. Stoke-on-Trent
Education Committee came into existence following
the Six Towns' Federation. It always laid great emphasis
on providing every pupil with the opportunity to excel
and, to this end, was a pioneering body. To the fore in abolishing
the Eleven-plus examination and a leader in the introduction
of a comprehensive system of education, it also had
the distinction of founding the country's first purpose-built
Sixth Form College.
Further education:
The history of technical, vocational
and art education in the Six Towns is
closely intertwined with the growing needs of
the local pottery, mining and construction industries. Most
of the old institute buildings survive, though only Burslem's
School of Art and Longton's Sutherland Institute stay
true to their origins. The creation of the
North Staffordshire College of Technology
came about when the need for a central school offering
tuition in advanced courses was recognised towards the
end of the nineteenth century, foreshadowing the Federation
of the Six Towns in need and deed. The original College
buildings are now at the heart of North Staffordshire Polytechnic's
(now Staffordshire University) main campus.
Text from: "Six of the
Best" - Richard Weir
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Bentilee
/ Bucknall / Berryhill