Education resource pack

Did you know it only became law for children to go to school in Scotland in 1872? On this page you can watch videos that tell stories about education in the past, look at examples of documents, and find some related activities! You can also have a look at our online exhibition marking 150 years since the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act here!

Learn with Lorna videos about education in the Highland Archive Service collections:

LWL 8: Education LWL 46: Stories from school log books LWL 47: Fort William public school LWL 48: Education in Skye and Lochalsh LWL 95: Central School, Inverness LWL 114: Further stories from school log books LWL 133: Teachers LWL 198: Stories from school files LWL 208: School files - Teachers and pupils teachers LWL 222: Stories of pupils LWL 227: School magazines LWL 232: School subjects

Log Books and Admission Registers

Log Books and Admission Registers make up the main series of school records held in the archive collections. Admission Registers list the pupils registered in schools every year and can be useful if you want to find out about one person in the past.

Log Books were like diaries of the events that happened in each school - the headteacher would write an entry every week. They include information about lots of different things such as numbers of absent pupils, details about the weather, exam results, parties or holidays and general news. You can see some examples of these records below.

A large open book with two visible pages showing handwritten lists of names, addresses, and dates of birth under column headings

Keiss public school admission register

Culrain public school admission register

An open book with two visible pages showing handwritten entries in weekly instalments

Strontian school log book, 1874

A page from a handwritten volume. The entry records the visit of a school inspector.

Conon Bridge school log book, 1882

A page of a book with handwritten entries in weekly instalments

Kiltearn school log book, 1904

Photographs

Sometimes you can find school photographs in archive collections. Photographs can give a lot of information about the clothes children wore to school, what classrooms and school buildings looked like, and the sort of equipment used.

St Kilda classroom, c1905

A sepia toned photograph of children sitting and standing in tiers with a teacher to one side. Many of the pupils have bare feet and one child in the front row is holding a sign which reads 'Embo Public School 1912"

Embo school photograph, 1912

A black and white photograph adhered onto green card produced by D&W Prophet, Dundee. It shows two men and a woman seated and surrounded by a large group of children. All are in Victorian dress

Kilmonivaig school photograph, c1900

A black and white photograph showing a group of boys with crossed camans (shinty sticks) and a man in front of a large school building

Fort William school shinty team

Subjects

If you look at historic school records, you might find that pupils in the past were taught different things. Below you can see some records from Wick High School Girl’s Literary and Debating Society, where pupils were given a list of subjects and taught how to argue for and against different viewpoints. You can read a typed copy of these here.

A page of typed entries under the headings 'Date', 'Subject', and 'Leaders etc.'

Subjects for debate

A page from a book showing neat black ink writing on lined paper

"The dreamer gets more out of life than the man who acts" Page 1

"The dreamer gets more out of life than the man who acts" Page 2

Education related activities

Have a look at the Conon Bridge School Log Book. How many subjects can you find mentioned? Do you still study them all?
One of the documents we have uploaded to show you is the record of a debating society. Try and think of a subject which people might have different opinions on. Then you take one side and ask someone in your family to take the other side. Try and change each other’s opinions.
Some of the documents we hold include people writing down their memories of school. Using our template record what your favourite subject is at school, draw a picture of you with your best friend and a picture of your school.