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To
present day
pupils, accustomed to the Harris as a six year secondary school, the
Harris of Park Place would seem an unfamiliar and confusing place. One
hundred years have passed since the first pupils entered the school and
the many changes in educational theory and practice during this period
have profoundly affected the course of study and methods of teaching
within the school. The most obvious difference between the Harris of Park Place and the Harris of today is the age of the pupils. The original school included classes from the very young to those studying advanced subjects. In the words of one former pupil, the school provided "an education from the infant room to the University." Another striking contrast with the present day is the way in which classes were strictly segregated. Boys and girls were taught separately until the very senior years. This segregation was not confined to the classroom for the school prospectus was anxious to reassure concerned parents that "the boys and girls have separate entrances, playgrounds, sheds, offices and lavatories". Equally strange to a current pupil would be the fact that all classes were fee-paying, initially ranging from five shillings a quarter in the infant department to twelve shillings and sixpence a quarter in the senior department. The arrangement of several of the rooms would seem odd with their ranks of tiered desks ascending towards the ceiling, and the motley assortment of pupil dress would also provoke comment for a standardised school uniform was still a thing of the future. The choice of subjects and the teaching methods would be unfamiliar as would the examination structure - the "dreaded quarterlies". What then was life like for pupils as they passed through the Park Place Harris? Pupils entering the
school for the first time began their school career in the infant
department where the surroundings were especially designed for children
of a tender age: The
rooms in the infant department are specially seated and liberally
supplied with pictures, diagrams and models; and great pains will be
taken by the aid of action songs, musical drill and kindergarten
occupations, to make the course of instruction interesting and varied,
as well as thorough and complete. While the course offered was no doubt thorough, modern pupils
might have some doubts as to its interest, comprising, as it did,
religious knowledge, reading, spelling, writing on slates, arithmetic,
object lessons, kindergarten exercises, singing and industrial work.
Former pupils have nevertheless testified to the success of the
department where the staff "contrived to fill each day with new
discoveries and new experiences", recalling a time when the days
were "filled with brightness". In this task, the first generation of staff were aided by that now-extinct breed, the pupil-teachers. Under this system, certain pupils were selected for what would now be called an apprenticeship during which they helped with the work of teaching, receiving a small salary, while at the same time continuing their own education. Few of the children could have appreciated the rigours of a pupil-teacher's life - helping with classes from 9.00 until 3.00 before attending their own classes until six in the evening, and from 9.00 to 1.00 on Saturdays. Pupils would have been aware, however, of the gravity of the occasion when a pupil-teacher taught their class under the critical gaze of the Rector or one of H.M. Inspectors. For many, youthful curiosity must have been tempered by no little apprehension at the thought that they were themselves the subject of the inspection.
Inevitably, in view of the age of the children involved, life in the
infants was occasionally disturbed by some minor crisis but such
difficulties were easily resolved by the experienced staff. Miss
Morrison, head of the department in the early 1900s, had a simple but
effective remedy for any little problems which occurred
- a chorus by the class of "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean",
which soon restored good humour and harmony. Every small success was
duly recognised and surviving pupils from Park Place may well recall
"with what delight a pupil who had some measure of success at
spelling or addition received a reward in the shape of a Geisha candy
kept for that very purpose in a large shiny tin on the top shelf of the
cupboard". Such methods may appear quaint to modern eyes but they
nevertheless found favour with the inspectors: The infant
department is conducted in a very successful and intelligent manner.
Excellent order prevails, and the pupils are bright and evidently take
great delight in their school exercises. From the infants, pupils then progressed to the elementary department where they were to learn "still greater intricacies of knowledge". The course of study was determined by the Code or regulations of the Scotch (later Scottish) Education Department. These regulations were subject to frequent alteration while the unfamiliar terminology used also makes the school system of the time appear somewhat confusing. The modern reader is not alone in this confusion. As long ago as 1899,
the Convener of the School Committee voiced his annoyance at the
"vexatious restrictions imposed by that puzzling and vexatious
document
- the Scotch Code
- with its rules and exceptions, alterations and corrections, lapsed and
added articles". By the early twentieth century, however, the basic
pattern of study had been established. Pupils normally remained in the
elementary department for six years and their progress to the senior
school depended
Progress to this
stage was far from automatic. From Class III onwards, pupils were
rigorously examined by the Rector and staff three times a year, in
December, March and June. If these examinations discovered that a pupil
had not attained the expected standard, or if attendance throughout the
year was considered unsatisfactory, promotion to the next class might be
delayed. Schools were also visited regularly by H.M. Inspectors and, at
the end of Class VI, pupils had to satisfy the Inspectorate that they
had reached the necessary standard of proficiency before they were
allowed to enter the senior school. The main elements of the course of study were the same for both boys and girls. A pupil's day tended to be dominated by a thorough grounding in the "3 R's". Many hours would have been spent learning the intricacies of English with the aid of Chambers' Graduated Reader and Trotter's Grammar, or practising copperplate handwriting using Vere Foster's Copy Book. Similarly, numeracy was developed by long hours labouring through the contents of Blackwood's Arithmetical Exercises. In addition, all pupils were taught drawing, singing and, of course, religious knowledge.
The
curriculum was not limited to such basic subjects, however. From an
early age, pupils were introduced to the wonders of elementary science
or nature knowledge and, by the end of Class VI, were expected to have
gained a wide range of knowledge: Illustrations
of different forces producing motion in matter resultant and component
forces
- graphic representation of
forces
- parallelogram of forces and
easy problems arising from it. Rotary
motion, centrifugal force and illustrations of its use in various
machines, shape of the earth, Watt's governor balls, Newton's laws of
motion, inertia, its advantages and disadvantages, conversion of
sliding friction into rolling friction, and of rolling friction into
sliding friction, lubricants, ball bearings etc. The
steam engine, its history and development. Uses of the flywheel,
eccentric and governor. The steam boiler : safety valve, gauge glass,
pressure gauge etc. History
and Geography were also integral parts of the course and, once again,
required considerable effort on the part of the pupils. The History
syllabus for Class VI, for example, might seem a little daunting to
presentday twelve-year-olds: The
races of Britain, The coming of Christianity, Union of England under the
kings of Wessex, Alfred and the Danes, The Saxon kings, Normans and
English, Feudalism, Richard the Crusader, Magna Carta, The Makings of
Parliament, The beginnings of Scotland, The Maid of Norway, Scottish independence,
Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt, Peasants Revolt, Wycliff and the English
Lollards, Wars of the Roses, The Reformation in England, House of
Stuart, Reformation in Scotland, Elizabeth and the Armada, The Stuarts
and their difficulties, War between Charles I and his Parliament,
Britain governed by an army, Restoration, Catholics and Dissenters,
Monmouth's Rebellion, William III in Britain, Marlborough's campaigns,
Union of Scotland and England, Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745, The
winning of our Indian Empire, The rise and fall of the first American
colonies, British power at sea, The French While this is stated
in the school prospectus as the syllabus of Class VI, it will be obvious
to modern readers that it, in fact, represents far more than one year's
work. Nevertheless, the factual content which pupils were expected to
digest and be able to regurgitate is still impressive. For the first
generation of pupils, a certain degree of specialisation was introduced
into the last two years of the elementary course. Specific subjects were
regarded as being particularly suitable for either boys or girls. On the
academic side, boys were taught mathematics and Latin, while the girls
were introduced to the rudiments of French. The division of the
curriculum was even more apparent in the practical sphere. While the
boys were given a thorough training in the workshop, a course of
domestic economy was considered more appropriate for the girls, with its
elements of industrial work such as sewing and knitting, and a
comprehensive course in cookery. This specialisation was largely
abandoned with the dawn of the new century when the school leaving age
was raised to fourteen, and such subjects tended to become the province
of the secondary department. For all the pupils,
however, the end of elementary schooling meant that they had to face the
ordeal of the Merit Certificate or Qualifying examination. Children were
expected to demonstrate that they had reached a certain set standard in
basic subjects before they were allowed to proceed into the Higher Grade
or secondary department. A pass in this examination was not the end of a
pupil's problems, however. Education was not free, and the fees charged
by the school, coupled with the cost of necessary textbooks and other
required materials, were a considerable burden on the resources of many
parents. It was therefore vital for many children that they receive a
bursary or scholarship to pay for their secondary education. A number of scholarship schemes existed, including free scholarships awarded by the School Board for education at either the Harris or the Morgan Academies. These were granted on the basis of a competitive examination and, in order to gain such an award, pupils who had already passed the Qualifying examination had once again to demonstrate their grasp of basic subjects: ENGLISH Grammar
: To point out the function of words, phrases and clauses, in simple and
complex sentences. Dictation
: To write to dictation a passage containing punctuation marks in
common use, and to punctuate the passage, being told where the sentences
end. Composition
: To write a composition in three or four paragraphs on one of three
alternative subjects. To
write short answers to questions on the history of Scotland and England
(alternative questions to be given from the various periods), and on the
geography of the world (particularly of the British Empire). To work sums, both mentally and on
paper, in money, weights and measures, vulgar and decimal fractions,
proportion and interest. Having successfully
surmounted all these obstacles (and not everyone did) pupils then passed
to the more complicated world of the secondary department. On entering their first year in secondary, pupils were encouraged to
specialise in certain subjects depending upon the career they hoped to
follow after leaving school. For boys who wished to prepare for
University or for professional life, the Literary Course was recommended
- the main subjects being English, History and Geography, Latin, French or
German, Greek and Mathematics. This course was also regarded as
particularly suitable for girls who hoped to train as teachers. For
pupils hoping to go into business, special attention was devoted to
English, Composition, Modern Languages, Mathematics, Phonography, Book-keeping, Commercial Arithmetic and Geography. This Commercial Course was
specially designed to prepare pupils for Civil Service and London
Chamber of Commerce examinations. On the opening day, in 1885, the school had been criticised on the grounds that it was not properly equipped to teach science and therefore could not train its pupils for the needs of a changing society. This deficiency was soon remedied and, by the turn of the century, a Science Course was also offered for those desiring a training in the "new technology" of the time. Its main elements
were a thorough grounding in Mathematics, Experimental Science, a Modern
Language, Geometrical and Mechanical Drawing, and Workshop Practice.
Such a course, it was hoped, would enable pupils "to enter
successfully upon the complicated forms of modern industries by training
them to apply the principles of Science to daily work". These courses were intended to be of three years duration but, for many
pupils, education did not continue beyond the statutory leaving age of
fourteen (thirteen until 1901). The School Board and the school
authorities expressed their grave concern at the number of
"premature withdrawals" from these courses but, while
education remained fee-paying, many parents found it impossible to sustain the necessary
financial burdens to allow their children to remain at school. For these
pupils, a great deal had to be fitted into two years, with a training in
practical subjects being regarded as particularly important. For the boys, a
training in the workshop was considered of great value and, by the age
of fourteen, they were expected to have developed considerable
expertise: More difficult joints, e.g. double mortise and tenon, tusk tenon, scarf
joints used for lengthening beams, dove-tailing of the corner of a box or drawer-front, and the application of the above to useful articles such as a
tool-box, book-case, table etc. Drawing to scale and isometric projections. Such talents, it was
hoped, would enable a pupil "to teach himself when he enters an
ordinary workshop, and thus make his services at once of considerable
value to his employer". In recent years,
educational researchers have expressed grave concern about the small
number of girls pursuing a scientific course and have severely
criticised schools for unconsciously affecting the expectations and
aspirations of their female students. Whatever the relevance of such a
charge to modern schools, there is little doubt that girls passing
through the Park Place Harris were encouraged to follow a somewhat
limited course of study. As long ago as 1907, for example, Dr Brebner
advised: It does not seem reasonable that girls who are to be engaged in domestic
work after they leave school should be compelled to study mathematics
and experimental science when they should Particular emphasis was placed on housewifery or domestic economy,
which, in the thinking of the time, was regarded as an appropriate
training for most girls. Such pupils were expected to become proficient
at industrial work such as sewing and knitting, and to gain a thorough
knowledge of cookery. The scheme of work for thirteen-year-olds not only demonstrates the demanding nature of such a course but
also provides an interesting commentary on changing dietary tastes over
the years: 1
German Soup; English Stew and Suet Balls; Ground Rice Pudding. 2
Gingerbread Pudding; Fish stuffed and baked; Sweet Milk Scones. 3
Lentil Soup; Toad in a Hole; Rice Snowballs; Pancakes. 4 Meat Pudding; Fish fried in batter; Swiss Pudding; Rock
Cakes. 5
Minced Meat and Mashed Potatoes; Meat Cakes; Bread and Butter Pudding. 6
Stewed Beef and Rice; Cornish Pasties; Snowdon Pudding; Stewed Carrots. 7
Savoury Cod; Sultana Pudding; Sausage Potatoes; Cornflour Cakes. 8
Haricot Bean Soup; Treacle Tart; Stewed Fish; Louise Cakes. 9 Meat Pie; Meat Patties; Sago and Fruit; Dropped Scones. 10 Invalid Cookery. For pupils continuing their education beyond the statutory leaving age,
the major objective was to achieve a reasonable batch of academic
qualifications. For the earliest pupils, this meant success in the
University Local Examinations, the forerunners of the Leaving
Certificates. An eminent former pupil, William Dick, provides some idea
of the work-load involved in such a task: In English, we learned by heart large sections of the prescribed
textbooks
- "The Deserted Village", Book One of "Paradise Lost",
parts of "Comus" and "L'Allegro", two plays by
Shakespeare, and the Prologue to "The Canterbury Tales". We
had also read specimens of other English authors, and had an elementary
yet exact knowledge of the outlines of the History of English
Literature, and a fair knowledge of the growth of the In Latin, besides a thorough grounding in Grammar and Composition (we
were expected to repeat correctly the first quarter of Bradley's
Composition), we had to read unseen portions of Cicero and Sallust, and
had a good mastery of the prescribed books
- one book of Caesar, one of Livy, one of the Aeneid, and two books of the
Odes of Horace
- and we had learned to repeat portions of these books. In Mathematics, we
got as far as the Sixth Book of Euclid and, in addition, had been taught
the beginnings of Solid Geometry and Conic Sections. In Algebra, we had
proceeded to the Binomial Theorem and we had also done Plane
Trigonometry. Besides English with History and Geography, we all had a knowledge of
two other languages, and had done a two-year course in Chemistry. Drawing was also a compulsory subject, and
singing lessons were given once a week. By the early 1900s, these examinations had been replaced by a national
system of leaving certificates, a system closer to the "O"
Grades and "Highers" familiar to the present generation of
pupils. Present-day pupils would be far from happy, however, with one feature of the old
leaving certificate examinations. Unlike today, subjects were taken in
groups and, if a pupil failed one subject within the group, the leaving
certificate was not granted. To qualify for the Intermediate
Certificate, taken at the age of fifteen, pupils had to pass four
subjects at the Lower Grade (forerunner of the "O" Grade) at
one and the same examination period. These passes had to include English
and Mathematics while the others could consist of Science with a
language or languages only. The full leaving certificate, taken at age
seventeen, made even greater demands for candidates had to pass either
four subjects at Higher level, or three "Highers" and two
"Lowers". The preparation for
such examinations was demanding while the onset of the examination
period was a sobering thought for even the most carefree of pupils: The L.C.E. is close at hand Its advent we don't fear For we, a noble little band, Have worked hard all the Year. We've swotted Higher History, And
Latin, French and Greek, We've suffered Euclid's mystery Five whole periods a week! We've studied English Literature From the Beowulf to Pope, Until of passing we're quite sure, We've every right to hope. We know about the contest 'Twixt the Papacy and State, We know which author we like best And details of his fate. We've studied English lyrics By the yard and by the mile, We've written panegyrics On Byron's fluent style. We've written notes on drama, And on Milton and Carlyle, We can sketch the Atacama And our own beloved isle. We've stewed up formula and prop., And that's not done for fun, So just imagine what a drop We'll
get if we are "spun". Doubtless, the author of this contribution to the school magazine of
1913 will be happy to remain anonymous, but are the feelings he
describes really so different from those of pupils approaching the S.C.E.
(S.Q.A.)
examinations nowadays ? Throughout the whole of the secondary course, great emphasis was placed upon academic standards. The academic demands placed upon pupils were heavy - indeed too heavy for many. In order to be promoted from the first and second years, pupils had to score at least sixty per cent in the school examinations, while entry into the fourth year depended upon receiving a mark of sixty-five. Many pupils would have failed to reach these levels while, as we have seen, the financial burdens on parents prevented others from continuing at school beyond the age of fourteen. Despite this, the school had just cause for satisfaction regarding the numbers who achieved success at the higher levels. In 1904, H.M. Inspectors congratulated the Harris on its outstanding performance in the leaving certificate examinations, adding that "only George Watson's College had a better record, and their superiority was very slight". This high standard was maintained to the extent that, in 1922, the Inspectorate once again commended the school on "maintaining its place as one of the principal feeders of the University".
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