By Ian Cooper from his excellent series ‘Records of a Bygone Age’ published in the Stronsay Limpet and republished here with their kind permission.

Overcrowding, coupled with the poor levels of heating and ventilation in the school, helped provide ideal conditions for the spread of any contagious disease which reached the island. The summer of 1909 saw an outbreak of measles affect the island and school, only coming to an end when the school was closed for the summer break. Then, soon after pupils returned to school for the new term, the island was hit by another outbreak of Scarlet Fever. This lasted throughout October and November, during which time the school was closed for 2 weeks to allow it to be cleaned and disinfected once more.

Following a census of the island’s children in February 1910 it was recorded that there were 234 children of school age on the island, with 206 of those appearing on the school rolls of the Central and outlying schools. Of the remainder, 1 was over 6 but not at school, 2 were said to be in delicate health, 5 were attending provisional school in Papa Stronsay, 4 were said to be unlikely to go to school weekly and 16 who were over 5 and under 6 years of age were unable to attend school during the winter months. Although figures were seldom given, numbers on the school roll seemed to have hovered around that figure since the late 1880s.

In April that year it was noted that a new Science classroom was nearing completion and was now at a stage where classes could be allowed to move in. It was with a sense of relief that this room was brought into use, although it still lacked desks and scientific apparatus and schoolwork was being hampered by the noise of hammering.

In May 1910 a letter from the Education Department stated that Stronsay could not yet be granted intermediate status as they still didn’t have the proper facilities. The board wrote in reply that they now had a proper laboratory and all the necessary equipment for teaching science and that they had a full staff of teachers. In September they added the information that, in addition to Science and Industrial classes they were now making provision for the teaching of woodwork and cooking.

After little more than 9 years on the throne Edward VII died on 6th May 1910. As a mark of respect for the late king the school was closed on 20th May as part of a National Day of Mourning.

As part of the ongoing application for Intermediate status the classrooms were all measured to check the maximum numbers that each room could hold. The minimum allowance per pupil was set at 10 ft2 for science classes, with an allowance of 9 ft2 for others. This was less than 1 metre 2 per pupil, and sardines come to mind here! Using this formula, the Senior room could accommodate 47 for science lessons or 63 for other lessons while the Middle room was capable of holding 42 pupils. With the Infant room capable of housing 70 pupils, in theory this was adequate space for the teaching of 175 pupils and was deemed more than adequate for the numbers attending, which would have been around 120 at that time.

In December 1910 the school was closed for a time and disinfected when yet another bout of Scarlet Fever affected the island. This was followed by an outbreak of mumps in March 1911, with the school being closed once more, this time for 2 weeks. With contagious diseases of any sort always being a worry the school was again closed for a week in July 1912, this time to help control another outbreak of influenza.

On a happier note the school was closed for a full week, commencing on 19th June 1911, for what was termed as a ‘Coronation Holiday’. This was to celebrate the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary, which was held on 22nd June.

In a HMI report in 1911 the school was congratulated on the admirable provision it had made for instruction in practical subjects, noting that one of the staff was soon to qualify to teach cookery and hoping that this would then be added to the curriculum. It then went on to highlight once more the high number of pupil absences being recorded which, they commented, inflicted serious loss on the Board through the reduction in grants. Recognising that many of the pupils lived some distance from the school the report also suggested that attendance could be improved if arrangements could be made to provide scholars with a hot meal. It also noted that in some schools a change of shoes and stockings were available for wet mornings and that this could also be considered by the Board.

Cookery classes commenced soon after, as did woodwork instruction although all the tools had not yet arrived.

In a note in the log book on 29th September 1911 Headmaster Mr McCallum records that ‘Some nine boys had returned home yesterday morning when near the school (because of the rain). These boys and the whole school were warned not to repeat such conduct on pain of severe punishment. N.B. The rain was not very heavy; also – no girls returned.’

Also in 1911 it was noted that the scholars of each room had formed a ‘cocoa fund’ and now nearly all had cocoa with their lunch, each teacher supervising the distribution of the hot drink after the kettles were boiled on the stove. This was a great boon to the pupils but, sadly, was only available to those who were willing and able to contribute to the cost.

More changes of staff took place, with the appointment of Miss Mary Smith in 1911. Then, in April 1913 Miss Elizabeth Williamson, who had been teaching at the school since 1902, resigned her post as leader of the Junior Department. In the advert looking for her replacement the salary offered was given as £75 but this failed to attract any suitable applicants. The post was re-advertised, offering an increased salary of £80, together with a free house, and stating that it was necessary for applicants to have knowledge of instrumental music, while the ability to teach cookery was also recommended. The successful applicant was Miss Isama Gilmour from Banchory who took up the post in November 1914.

In February 1915 it was recorded that the number of school age children had fallen slightly to 213.

Miss Gilmour, soon to become Mrs Shand, resigned in August 1915 and in November Miss Mary Gibson was appointed in her place at the same salary.

The 1915 HMI report stated that the school was much cleaner but again drew attention to the poor attendance of pupils The Inspector did note that this could be partly because of the withdrawal of a large number of men who had left the island for service in the army. This wasn’t seen as an acceptable excuse though, with the inspector attaching the blame for such poor attendance on the indifference of the parents and to the laxness of the Board in administering and enforcing the need for compulsory attendance. This reprimand seemed to carry little weight with the Board who very soon afterwards exempted 19 scholars to work in the harvest! This was quickly followed by applications from the parents of a further 23 of the older pupils to be exempted for harvest work and, at a meeting on 1st September 1915, these requests were also all granted. This high number of applications would no doubt have been due to so many of the workforce being away in the Forces.

Scarlet Fever appeared on the island once more in April 1916 and the school was shut from 8th to 20th May to try to break the hold of the epidemic. The building was also thoroughly cleaned and disinfected during the closure.

In July 1916 the Board was informed of a bequest in their favour from the late Captain Archibald Robertson from Stonehaven, formerly of Papa Stronsay and a brother of George Robertson, the founder and manager of the Orkney Steam Navigation Company, later to become Orkney Ferries. This bequest was for £1,150 (around £85,000 in today’s terms) and was to provide four bursaries annually, each of £10, to be paid for up to four years and to be allocated ‘among natives of Stronsay desirous of prosecuting their studies at any Scotch University, the preference to be given to necessitous and deserving students.’ This bequest was gratefully accepted.

At a Stronsay School Board meeting held on 6th September 1916 the Attendance Officer reported that, while attendance at the North and South Schools was very good, the attendance at the Central School over the last 2 weeks was very unsatisfactory owing to most of the older children from the Village being engaged in salvaging wood from a stranded vessel at Sanday. The Clerk was instructed ‘to write to the children so employed and also their employers, warning them of the illegality of their position and asking their employers for an explanation.’

This ship would undoubtedly have been the Bretagne, a Norwegian steamer bound for Liverpool with a cargo of wood when she stranded on the sands of Newark Bay in Sanday. The Bretagne was hard ashore and had to be lightened by discharging her cargo before she could be refloated, this to be accomplished by engaging 3 small ships to ferry the timber off the stranded vessel and land it at the Stronsay pier. It was in this activity that the pupils were employed, no doubt providing a cheap source of labour to help unload the cargo of wood, stow it on the Stronsay pier and then, after the Norwegian ship was refloated and taken safely to Stronsay, to reload her cargo of timber, allowing the ship to continue on her way.

A school holiday to allow the children to help with the harvest was again given in 1916. This holiday lasted from 25th September until 27th October, by which time it was hoped that the island’s harvest would all have been secured.

The school closed at 11.30 on 17th March 1917 to allow the pupils to practise and prepare for taking part in a concert to raise money for the ‘Parcels for Soldiers’ fund. This fund was aimed at sending parcels of food, toiletries etc to soldiers on duty in the front line or being held as prisoners of war. Another half day was given on 25th April to allow teachers and children to attend a sale at the North School, where teacher Mrs Helen Flett was leaving the island after 9 years in charge of the North School.

The School Board was again faced with a large number of applications for exemption for the 1917 harvest, all of which were approved.

As he had intimated some years previously, Alexander McCallum resigned due to age in September 1917, with his final brief report in the school log stating ‘Today I cease to be Headmaster of this school; tomorrow I expect to be one of the “Superannuated Men”.’

An advert for a new teacher was placed soon after. This advert sought ‘a University graduate with qualifications in science and woodwork. Salary £150 per annum with free house and garden and war bonus.’ The successful applicant was William Tulloch Eunson from Tankerness but it later transpired that the War Office was unwilling to release him from his military duties. After this setback it was to prove to be some time before the post was filled.

The School Board meeting of 27th December 1917 was called to arrange the allocation of a sum of money received from the Scotch Education department for the augmentation of teachers’ salaries. It was allocated as follows:

The Headmaster was to receive £20, with Misses McCallum and Gorie of the Central School and Miss Fotheringhame of the South School given £15 each, while Miss Gibson and Miss Foubister of the Central were given £13 and £12 respectively. Miss Gibson tendered her resignation at the same meeting and it was agreed to advertise the post at a salary of £93. Miss Grace Miller of Grindalay, currently teaching at the Rothiesholm School, deputised until April 1918, when Miss Isabella Sutherland from St Andrew’s was appointed to the post.

Heavy drifting snow was recorded on 7th January 1918 resulting in the school being shut and it was to remain shut until 22nd January. Even then, with the roads still being very bad and impassable in places, few children were able to attend.

In February 1918 Mr William Clyne, compulsory officer and janitor at the Central, had submitted a letter of resignation to the School Board, this resignation to take immediate effect. The circumstances behind this letter aren’t recorded but the Board chose not to accept his resignation and to dismiss him instead. They also agreed to withhold any salary due to him pending investigation regarding the manner in which he had been performing his work for some time.

John Stevenson of Park of Housebay had also been called before the Board to answer a charge of failing to educate his son Peter but failed to appear and the Board agreed to submit an ‘attendance order’ on him, the purpose of this order being an official warning that he would face legal proceedings if he didn’t send his children to school.

In August 1918 Miss McCallum resigned and the Board agreed to pay her an honorarium of £10 in recognition of the extra work entailed while the school was without a head teacher. Miss Gorie was appointed to take charge of the school, the role that Miss McCallum had been filling. The Clerk was instructed to again advertise for a headmaster, this time at a salary of £200 and to advertise for a replacement for Miss McCallum at a salary of £105. A new assistant was quickly found, with Miss Annie M Donaldson MA from Edinburgh (originally from Egilsay) appointed later that month.

Also in August a letter was sent from the School Board to the head teachers of each school reminding them of the necessity to economise with the use of coal on the fires due to the scarcity and high cost of coal.

A number of exemptions for harvest were again granted, although the Board was in receipt of a letter from the Education Department querying why such a high number of exemptions were being granted and asking for particulars of the 40 scholars (more than 1/3rd of the total roll and probably the greater majority of older pupils on the roll) who had failed to achieve a 75% attendance record.

1918 also saw the end of the School Boards which had been in place since 1872, to be replaced by a School Management Committees fulfilling much the same role.

The influenza pandemic, commonly known as Spanish Flu, which had been sweeping the country and causing the deaths of millions seemed to take a long time to reach Stronsay but come it did, with the epidemic taking a firm hold in Stronsay in late 1918. To attempt to limit the spread of the virus all schools on the island were closed on 5th December but 6 residents, all under the age of 30, were to die of the infection before the schools reopened on 6th January 1919. Although it had been thought the worst was past, with pupils now back at school the outbreak flared up again and the schools closed once more on 19th February, this time remaining closed until 17th March, with a further 2 islanders succumbing to the disease during that time. Fortunately this time the epidemic did finally seem to have run its course.

By the time the school reopened a new headmaster had at last been found, with Mr James Stewart Weir from Beith taking up that duty on 31st March 1919. The roll at the Central School stood at 120 at that time.