Image: British School (4967589423)

Description: The British or Lancasterian School opened in September 1809 in Severn Street, some of whose buildings still survive today. Named after the creator, Joseph Lancaster, the school allowed large numbers of boys to be educated by just one teacher with the help of a number of assistants or monitors. What was most distinctive about the British School was that it was non-sectarian, and though attendance at church was urged, it was not enforced. Indeed, a handful of the boys were Jewish, and many were Quakers. In its first four years of existence the British School at Severn Street admitted 878 boys, and the school usually contained about 300 children, learning to read and write, and, for a few, to learn arithmetic. Most of the literacy was taught using slates; paper was only available to the most advanced. The youngest boys were in the “alphabet or sand class”, learning to make the shape of letters in the sand.
Title: British School (4967589423)
Credit: British School Uploaded by tm
Author: Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
License: CC BY 2.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes