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Our information on Welsh schools is still very limited. Wevhave a very small archive. We do have details on a few individual Welsh schools. Many of the schools today seem virtually identical to English schools. We have not noticed any significant differences. Historically Wales has not been as prosperous as Eb=ngland which affects fashion and clothing. Other than this we do not see any notable difference and the income gap has closed in recent years. Unlike Scotland, English school laws and regulations apply in Wales. This was somewhat different in the 19th century when many Welsh people still spoke Welsh. British school reforms expanding state education significantly impacted the use of the Welsh language.
Here we see a class at a Catholic school in Aberdere during 1914. It might have been called the Aberdere School, but as it was a Catholic school, we suspect that it had a different name. It looks like a nursery school class. The children look about 4-5 years old. We are uncertain here if this class would have been part of a primnary school or if these nursery school classes were separate facilities. There is no uniform, but many of the children including a few of the boys look to be wearing pinafores although because of the poor quality imge, this is difficilt to make out. Many boys look to be wearing plain outfits, but some have elavorate ruffled or lace collars.
The Aberdare Grammar School was founded more recently, in 1896. We note that when it opened in 1896 it was a coeducational school, novel at the time for secondary schools, and that the curriculum included the Welsh language as an elective subject. Aberdare is now a comprehensive school.
We note a photograph of the Carnetown Infants School in 1919. The school was obviously for younger children, but I am not sure about the age range. It was Group 4, although we do not know what that meant. The photograph was taken in 1919. The school was located at Abercynon.
Cowbridge Grammar School is one of the best known grammar schools in Wales and a good example of a country grammar school. We have included the school on our English list as we do not have a section on Welsh education yet. As far as we can tll, there is little difference between Wales and England in trms of educaion, although we would be interested in hearing from our Welsh readers on this issue. Cowbridge Grammar has a considrable history. We know that it was functioning as early as 1608. In 1860 it was functioning as both a day and boarding school. One of its more famous students was the actor Anthony Hopkins, although he was not a very successful scholar while at the school. A master published a memoir based on his experiences in a boarding house at Cowbridge at the same time Anthony was at the school.
This cabinet card shows a class group at the Dyffryn Infants School in 1931. Dyffryn, often spelled Duffryn, is a small village in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales. Dyffryn is best known for its Dyffryn Gardens and its megalithic monuments nearby including the Tinkinswood and St Lythans Burial Chamber and also the caves of nearby Goldslan. The Dyffryn estate dates back to the 7th century. In Britain, infants schools is aerm used for a type of primary school which did not have the older primary years. The portrait was taken in 1931. The 1930s was the last decade we still see cabinet cards. The class is Standard 2b. That is the form meaning the second year of primary school. The 'b' means that there were at least two standard 2 classes. The children would have been 7 years old. The girls mostly wear dresses, although one girl wears a sweater and skirt. Some of the hems are quite short a major change from earlier decades. The boys wear a mix of suits and jumper (sweaters). We see some ties, but not many. All the boys wear short pants, still cut quite long. The photogra[her was Geo. Holdsworth & Son, Scholastic Photo Specialists, Hartlepool. This is where the photographic company was located, not the school. They photographed schools throughout England and Wales.
We know nothing about the Eglwys Newydd Boys School. We are not even sure if Eglwys Newydd is a name or location. It sounds Welsh to us. We also do not know what type of school it is. The availavle image from about 1954/55 suggests it may be a primary school (figure 1). We thought it might be a private school, but the building looks rather like a state school. The boys look rather well dressed, but there does not seem to be a uniform. Hopefully our British readers can provide some insights here.
This is another Welsh school that we know very little about. The name of thed school was Hawthorn, but we do no know the type of school. It appears to be a secondary school. We know that it was a school near Cardiff. We believe that it was a secondary school, but we do not know what kind. The only information we have is an image of the juniors on a trip tgo Devon in 1937. The boys all wear suits. One boy wears a peaked school cap.
We know very little aout the Llanwnog School. Llanwnog is a village in Powys. The Llanwnog School seems to have been a church school. We note a formal school portrait, we think in 1891. esee both the children and teachers. The staff seems rather large for a school this size. As with most early Welsh schools, it is a substantial stone building. The group seems rather serious, common in these early school portraits. This portrait is notable for showing the children's headwear. Most of the boys wear knee pants or knicker suits. One boy wears long pants. The girls wear dresses, some with pinafores. All wear stout boots, in part because many children had quite a long walk to school along stony paths.
We notice the Navigation Board School in Abercynon. The photograph was taken in 1893. We are not sure just what a Navigation Board School was. A board schhol was a school goverened and funded by the local community. The more common term later became county school. Just what the navigation is all about we are not entirely sure, but HBC readers have provided some interesting information.
We are a little confused here. Whitchurch appears to be a town in Shopshire. There may well be more than one Whitchurch in England. The Whitchurch Grammar School, however, appears to be located in Cardiff. We know very little about the school at tghis time. We do note that the Grammar School had a very active Scout troop in the 1950s , the 3rd Whitchurech Scout troop.
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Created: 7:37 PM 1/13/2005
Last updated: 6:58 PM 9/27/2017
