British Schools Museum facts for kids
The British Schools Museum is a special museum in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. It's built inside old school buildings from the Victorian era and Edwardian period. These buildings are very important, so they are called Grade II listed. The museum shows what school was like a long time ago. It has classrooms for infants, girls, and boys. There are also houses where the teachers used to live. One famous part is the monitorial schoolroom from 1837, which taught 300 boys. There's also a rare galleried classroom from 1853.
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How the School Started
The first school here opened in 1810. A local lawyer named William Wilshere started it in an old malthouse. This school taught 200 boys and 100 girls. It was the first "monitorial school" in Hertfordshire for poor children.
What Was the Monitorial System?
Teaching at this school used a method called the monitorial system. This idea came from Joseph Lancaster. In this system, older students, called "monitors," taught many younger students. The main teacher, called the master or mistress, would supervise them. This allowed one teacher to manage a very large class.
This method was used until 1862. After that, a new system called the "Pupil Teacher method" began. People felt that children teaching other children wasn't always the best way.
The Pupil Teacher Method
The Pupil Teacher method was different. It involved older students getting special training to become teachers. They were also paid for their work. The government hoped this would help train more teachers for the future. It was a bit like an apprenticeship for teaching.
Growing Bigger
The school became very popular and needed more space. In 1837, a new schoolroom was built. This room could hold 300 boys and was finished in 1838. The original malthouse building then became a school for infants and girls.
In 1852, a school inspector named Matthew Arnold visited the school. He suggested that the boys' school needed a new classroom. So, a new "Gallery classroom" was built. It could hold 110 students and opened in February 1854.
In 1857, the school decided to completely rebuild the Girls' and Infants' School. This new building was finished in 1858. It also included houses next door for the Master and Mistress. When Matthew Arnold visited again in 1867, he said the new buildings were "excellent."
Changes Over Time
By 1904, even more classrooms were needed because the number of students kept growing. These new rooms were built in 1905. However, by 1929, the school was too small and quite old. The Boys' and Girls' Schools moved to a new place called Wilshere Dacre School in town.
The Infants' School stayed in the original buildings. When World War II started, many children were sent to Hitchin for safety. Because of this, the school became a Junior Mixed Infants School in 1940. This school continued until 1969, when it finally closed. After that, North Hertfordshire College used the buildings as an activities centre.
The Museum Today
The school buildings were officially recognized as important in 1975. This was because of their historic school design. A local historian named Mrs. Jill Grey started a small museum in one of the Edwardian period classrooms.
In July 1990, North Herts College moved out. The buildings were then put up for sale. A group called the Hitchin British Schools Trust was formed. By 1994, they successfully bought the buildings.
The Trust, mostly with the help of volunteers, has worked hard to restore the schoolrooms. They wanted them to look just like they did originally. Work is still ongoing to make them even better. Many people visit the museum, including adults and groups of children from all over the country. They come to see how their ancestors were taught in these old classrooms.
The BBC even filmed parts of their 2010 children's TV show, Just William, at the museum in Hitchin.
