It may surprise readers of this brief extract to learn how young some pupils were when they entered school. Several were only three years old and this child-minding aspect of the village school was vital to the economic life of the villagers. Agricultural tenancy agreements often stipulated that wives would be expected to work on the land at busy times of the year such as the harvesting period and they could be called upon to help with seasonal domestic tasks in the farmhouse such as jam-making and preserving. Very few women were actually paid for working  under these agreements, it being understood that their input was part of their husband's contribution to the prosperity of the farm for which he worked and upon which the whole family depended.

Emily Ann Mardon came to the school in January 1889 as Schoolmistress when she was 21. She received an annual wage of £71 plus a house. If she achieved good results and good attendance she received an additional sum of £29. She remained at the school until 1928 and proved to be an excellent teacher. She was given a pay rise of £6 in 1898 and, from that time, as well as providing her with an assistant, money was found to pay for an extra monitor to help with the infants. Until 1903, these very young children were taught in a curtained-off area of the main school room. A separate infant classroom was provided in 1903.