From the Archives: School reminisces from Skibo, 123 years ago
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From the records of the Highland Archive Centre
Among the most fascinating documents held at the Highland Archive Centre are school log books. Following the introduction of the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act, the keeping of school log books became a legal requirement.
School log books were used to record information such as attendance levels and staffing changes within the school. They also contained information from the local area, like severe weather conditions or important visitors to the school. One of the log books held is for Skibo School, for the years 1899-1967.
A total number of school attendees is not given until February 23, 1900, when Miss A Pauline who had taken charge of the school only three days earlier wrote: “Attendance very low owing to stormy weather and sickness.
“Only 14 children presented themselves when the school opened on Friday. Kept them for a short time, then dismissed them without marking the register.”
Miss Pauline set straight to work on making improvements to the school, writing on March 5: “Applied today, to board for sets of cards (for reading, arithmetic and drawing), blackboard stand, modulator and other articles necessary for carrying on the work in school.” A modulator, incidentally, was a tool for teaching musical scales.
Miss Pauline went further in ordering new desks for the school and a new floor was arranged to be laid. The log book gives some indication of how long goods took to arrive to the north of Scotland in 1900, as Pauline writes on April 9: “Had a holiday on Monday, as workmen were putting new floor in school.”
She notes that the new blackboard arrived two days later, however, the new desks had not yet arrived, and the old ones had been removed! The log book noted – “work was carried on with difficulty”.
The desks finally arrived on Wednesday, April 25, and were “fixed up in readiness for use on Thursday, work carried on ‘till then with much inconvenience”!
However, the set of arithmetic test cards and a set of drawing copies for standards also arrived that week.
A report in October 1900 by His Majesty’s Inspector of Schools read: “The new teacher has made a good start in her present charge”.
Her efforts have clearly been noticed as it goes on to say, “various additions have been made to the school facilities which are calculated to improve considerably the conditions of teaching”.
High Life Highland’s archive service is responsible for collecting, preserving and making accessible archives relating to the history of the Highlands.
The archive collections at the Highland Archive Centre at Bught Road, Inverness, date back from the 14th century to the present day, and cover the counties of Inverness, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty and Sutherland.
They contain more than 100,000 items and include charters, minute books, correspondence, accounts, maps, photographs and films.
You can contact the service by phone on 01463 256444, or by email:archives@highlifehighland.com
