Boys often started school at the
age of 4, learning to read and
write, then at 7 they went on to
grammar school.

Grammar school taught Latin and Greek as well as logic,
mathematics and rhetoric. Pupils were often required to speak in
Latin while at scheel. Unlike our modern week. with two days off
school at the weekend, Tudor schools were open six days a weekl
The school day started at 7.00am in winter and 6.00am in summer
and didn’t end until about 5.00pm. Petty Schools’ had shorter
hours, to allow poorer boys to go to work as well.
There were still opportunities for poorer children. Lacal women
would run schools, often in their own homes, for girls and boys.
These school dames would teach local reading and simple maths.
Girls might be taught sewing and boys how to write. These came to
be known as ‘Dame Schools.
wrlung pracace otten tocused on rellgious texts, like the Lord s
Prayer. Books were expensive and rare in classrooms, so pupils
read from hornbooks instead. The alphabet or prayers were pinned
to wooden boards and covered with a layer of transparent cow’s
hom.