Hand written history of Marks Tey school from Bryan Ambridge’s school project, page 1 of 2.

School

Marks Tey school was built in 1863 “A handsome and commodious school-house for the poor children of Marks Tey and the adjoining parish of Little Tey, has just been erected on the green at the junction of the London and Coggeshall roads. It is intended to accommodate 60 children” County Standard

Extracts from a diary of the early days of the school:

1866 October 1st “School opened after the harvest holiday, order bad.” Boys were caned of stone throwing and one frequently reads of windows being repaired.

1870 Feb. 3rd Had school well swept and dusted. In those early days there was no regular sweeping and dusting of the school. This does not occur again until March 24th. The 1870 compulsory attendance act did not apparently have a good effect in increasing attendance.

By this time the children took it in turns to sweep the rooms and the boys had to arrive early to light the fires.

In 1875 the new library was opened.

In 1876 the school was mentioned as one of the best in the district for writing

There were frequent epidemics of measles, scarlet fever and diptheria which meant children missing school