| Years 1872-1883 | Years 1884-1895 | Years 1896-1907 | Years 1908-1920 |
Over several years, Maureen and I transcribed (by hand, using pencils!) all the Hooe School Log Books held at the East Sussex Record Office. These books covered the years from late 1872 to 1963, when the school, finally, closed.
These transcriptions are in 'pdf' format, which means that they can easily be searched for names, dates, places, and/or events using the search facility included in "Adobe Acrobat Reader". I would have liked to have been able to include images of a few of the pages in the log books, but digital photography and the scanning of documents was not allowed at the East Sussex Record Office, and, while they have a photographic service, the prices were prohibitive.
Though some schools, throughout the country, had had some form of a school log book for many years those of the Hooe School came out of the Education Act of 1870. It was the duty and responsibility of the Head Teacher to record daily events within the school, such as attendance levels, absenteeism giving, where possible, the reason.
It doesn't appear that there was any specific rules as to what was to be recorded, but it seems it was customary to include such information as illnesses, social events such as Sunday School treats, fairs, outings, closures due to weather, illness or holidays, and even days off for blackberrying!
Visits by the vicar, the school managers, His Majesty's School Inspectors plus their reports of the inspections, were, also, recorded, together with comments on other staff members, results of examinations, problems with the pupils or their parents, supply or non-supply of class material, and general notes made of the school structure and the condition of school equipment - heaters, desks, water supply, which, in the early days was a bucket, later a tap!
There's a great deal of information given on the lessons and the curriculum, prizes-giving and prize-winners - and my grandfather, on many occasions, added personal notes, treating the log book almost as his personal diary. Even though it was the duty of the Head teacher to fill in the log books, they were the property of the school managers.
There are three Hooe School log books held in the East Sussex Record Office and they date from the first entry on 18th of November, 1872 to December 20th, 1963, when the last entry was made before the school shut its doors, was converted into a private dwelling, and, finally, sold, in 1965.
