Isa's recollections of Lairg school days
THIS is the second instalment of Isabella (Isa) A. Sutherland’s account of life at Lairg Higher Grade School in the 1920s, an extract discovered by her niece, Irene Grant of Lairg. The ‘Ina’ mentioned in the piece is Irene’s mother, Isa’s twin sister.
AT Lairg Higher Grade school I enjoyed my secondary education, though the headmaster was a bit intimidating. He had been shell shocked in the First World War and this affected him from time to time and he brought it out on the pupils.
He taught Latin, English, history and geography. He often started the history lesson with dates – at least 20 which we had to learn beforehand. I found this boring at the time but later it was to prove beneficial.
I enjoyed my French and Maths lessons very much. We had two lady teachers, both of whom were very nice. Later they both became involved in the 1st Girl Guide Movement which started in Lairg in 1925 and we got to know them very well.
We had quarterly exams in all subjects and did reasonably well. We had regular exams in the Primary section as well and had to pass the Qualifying Exam on Standard VI before entering the Higher Grade. I regret that no report cards have been kept.
Classes were not streamed. Many of the pupils left at the age of 14, so classes got smaller as you went further up the school – 12 or less.
We were well taught in all subjects except drawing. It didn’t seem to be a popular subject with any of the teachers! I often regretted not having a proper art teacher. Discipline was very good in the H.G.section – the headmaster saw to that! We wouldn’t dare misbehave.
He once caught several of the older pupils dancing in the shelter one evening and strapped them severely the next day – first making them cross their hands.
Our schooling did not cost anything. We just bought jotters, pencils and, occasionally, rubbers. School pens, waverley nibs, ink and blotting paper were all provided. As you can imagine we quite often blotted our copy books when we were first introduced to ink in the Primary section!
Girls were taught to knit in Standard I by the infant teacher who also supervised the Higher Grade girls’ sewing and knitting.
Her method, when we first started plain knitting, was to "chant" over and over again: "Put in your needle, put over your thread, take it through, take it off."
We did knitting and sewing with both our Primary teachers and made such things as scarves, socks, lapbags and aprons.
By the time we reached the Higher Grade, a cookery teacher had been appointed and we had cookery and laundry which we thoroughly enjoyed. The boys had woodwork.
Things have certainly changed for the better in this respect. Children have a tremendous choice of subjects to choose from and are much more creative.
We all won prizes for classwork but sadly none are to be found. They probably all went to Sales of Work. Our Standard IV teacher presented Ina and me with dictionaries when we left her class.
The attitude to religion for both pupils and teachers was very good, in fact Religious Instruction was one of the subjects in the curriculum.
We started off with the Lord’s Prayer followed by a Scripture lesson. We also had to memorise Psalms and answer questions from the Shorter Catechism.
At the end of the summer term the local Free Church minister came and tested us in Bible knowledge. We also attended the Free Church Sabbath School and sat the Welfare of Youth examinations, every year gaining prizes and certificates in the Essay, Scripture and Catechism exams.
I do feel that many pupils nowadays miss out on the religious side of education.
A good grounding in this would stand them in good stead when they have to leave home and make their own decisions. Learning the Ten Commandments would be a very good start!
There was no social or political prejudices to my knowledge.
Not a very big percentage went to university. Some went straight to Training College – others to further education later on.
Some attention was paid to hygiene. The Medical Officer of Health came round the schools once a year and the local District Nurse paid regular visits and inspected heads, nails etc. A dentist came too.
No children, to my knowledge, died of T.B during their schooldays but I know of at least three pupils who died of it in their 20s.
We did not have a school uniform. We just had our "special school clothes" which we had to change out of whenever we came home from school.
We had "pinnies" and boots – how we hated the boots! Incidentally, we had buttoned boots for Sunday!
Changes in Education in Scotland later included tables not being taught; no formal grammar; poetry not committed to memory; not enough attention to spelling; discipline problems.
Finally – we had a "Whipper-in!" in Lairg – and it was his duty to round up pupils who had frequent absences. He had many a mile to tramp on foot.
Our school hours were:
Infants 9am-3pm. Primary and Secondary 9am-4.15pm.
We had drill out in the playground (weather permitting) – mostly arm exercises and marching.
Our Infant and Primary teachers and, later, our Headmaster took us for singing and we took part in school concerts. I can still remember singing "Ye Banks & Braes" very lustily, our headmaster conducting.
A singing teacher was appointed later on.
