Ackworth School - A Quaker School for those "not in affluence".

1810-1819. 

1812 - 'The Committee commenced the practice of giving to every child, on leaving school, a Bible and a copy of Henry 'Puke's "Principles of Religion"'. - History of Ackworth School - Henry Thompson.

1816 - 'He [Joseph John Gurney] insisted that the children ought to be given copies of the Bible when they came to school, rather than on leaving, and as a result every Ackworth scholar has been presented with a Bible on arrival from 1816 until the present day.' - Ackworth School - Elfrida Vipont.

Boys: 

Curriculum:

• Religious study (a chapter from the bible was read before breakfast).

• English language.

• Reading (the rules for punctuation, learning sounds of the vowels).

• Writing.

• Spelling.

• English Grammar (in upper classes).

• Arithmetic.

• Geography (introduced in 1807 - taught only to sixty of the upper boys - map instruction and the drilling of the rudiments of geography).

Manual work:

• Waiting the table.

• Cleaning shows and knives.

• Helping in the bakery and the dairy

• Working in the garden or on the farm.

Girls:

Curriculum:

• Religious study (a chapter from the bible was read before breakfast).

• English language.

• Reading.

• Writing.

• Spelling (one-hour a day).

• English Grammar (in upper classes).

• Arithmetic. 

• Housewifery. 

• Needlework (spinning, sewing and knitting).

• Geography (introduced in 1807 - taught only to sixty of the upper girls - map instruction and the drilling of the rudiments of geography).

Manual work:

• Mending the linen.

• Waiting at the Housekeeper's table where the members of staff took their meals.

• Taking it in turns to assist the laundress and the mantua maker.

Page updated 8th September, 2015.