The Schools of Larbert Parish

In 1870 the number of pupils on the roll in the parish of Larbert was not more than 800, and certificated teachers numbered 10.  In 1910 the number on the roll amounted to 2,774, while the number of certificated teachers was 62.  Larbert School Board was formed in 1873 and it is a tribute to that body that the school provision was matched to the roll and that it was of a high quality.

In 1873 the newly formed School Board produced a report on the state of education in the parish.  It found that the accommodation within the schools, using the statutory allowance of 8ft square of flooring for each pupil, was 904 children between the ages of 5 and 13.  A census had been taken of the number of children in the parish between these ages, and it was found that there were 922, so that the existing accommodation nearly met what was required.  Those schools were pretty equally distributed over the parish.  The Board had resolved to build an additional classroom to the Parish School, which would afford accommodation for at least 60 to 80 scholars bringing it up to spec (Falkirk Herald 25 October 1873, 3).

The subsequent growth in industry leading to an influx of people upset such careful calibrations.  Over the following years the schools had to deal with the introduction of secondary education, changing class sizes, specialised units and the raising of the school leaving age.  The latest iteration of these upheavals has occurred at Kinnaird where the massive scale of the house building since 1990 led to the establishment of a brand new school in 2007, which has been extended on three separate occasions since, so that now it is one of the largest in the Falkirk district.

Schools within Larbert Parish:

Bibliography

Newton, E.A.L.1991Larbert Village Primary School Centenary Magazine 1891-1991.
Reid, J.1998‘The old school at Stenhousemuir,’ Calatria 12, 45-58
Scott, I1994‘Education and the Heritors of Larbert Parish 1808-1880.’ Calatria 7, 103-109.

G.B. Bailey, 2023