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Q. Were the children basically very poor?
A. They were, yes.
Q. Where did they go after they left you?
They didn’t go into any other schools. They followed their
father’s footsteps. They could leave at 11 if they wanted to
and had done a certain number of attendances. Lots of my boys
left at 11. Some bright ones I was very sorry to see go. One
family in Ash – Smith – had a very bright lad, but he left
school at 11. Old Mrs. Smith died a few years ago, but the rest
of the family moved away. The children would have to get up at
3.00 a.m. for fruit-picking and the children would recon to earn
themselves enough to buy a new set of clothes for themselves. |
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Q. Did they have grants or was it a
completely free school?
A. They did have grants from the education authority.
Q. Did the children themselves have to pay anything?
A. No, fee paying had been done away with. I remember North Ash
was a place of coming and going, people would come and work for
Mr. G. Day and stay about a year.
1 The writer received two letters from Miss Wright
about this subject; the first was undated, the second dated
1.6.1964. |