'' At a parish meeting held on May 20th 1836 it was resolved unanimously that when the Poor house (Waen Goch) already let for a school room is no longer wanted for that purpose it be considered as let to Russell and Brown for cottages at the rental of £30 per annum ''. This resolution is the first indication in the official records that a school was in existence in Nantyglo on Blaina.

The Education Act of 1830 gave a grant of £30,000 to be used for the education of the workers' children in this country. Edmund Jones referred to Sir Harold Howell perpetual curate of St Peter's who kept a school and '' none in the country did so much good ''. He was a good grammarian, but had '' no divinity or science '' and had few books. It can, therefore, be assumed that the incumbents of the parish conducted school for the young parishioners.

During the rapid development of Nantyglo on Blaina in the early part of the nineteenth century, the education of the workers was considered the least important of civil administration and for thirty years, until the opening the the ironworks schools the only education was carried out by the Sunday Schools of both the Established and Dissenting Churches.

The first recorded Sunday School was opened by the Garnfach Baptists in 1810 (?). In 1821, the established churches open schools in Nantyglo and Blaina, the Nantyglo Wesleyans followed shortly afterwards and before the end of the year, the Blaina ironworks Sunday School was established. In 1827 the Calvinistic Methodist open their school in Nantyglo. From that time on schools were opened in Cwmcelyn Coalbookvale and by 1833 (?) Blaina ironworks had two schools, Nantyglo Wesleyans two schools, Blaina Wesleyans two schools.

There can be no doubt that the Sunday schools exercised a profound influence on the lives of the people. They were established primarily to teach the people to read the Bible. In the established schools the clergyman's wife was responsible '' for the instruction and discipline '' while in later years the school master was brought in to teach. In the Dissenting schools the superintend and was responsible '' for instruction and discipline ''. The schools usually met for an hour to four hours instruction and very little absenteeism was noticed. No secular instruction was given. The schools opened with a prayer and hymns and as a result of the labours of the officers almost everyone who attended was able to read. Over half of those who attended were over fifteen years of age and a great deal of simultaneous instruction and exhortation was given.

The unrest of the eighteen thirties brought the iron masters to some sense of responsibilities, and by 1837 the Nantyglo Ironworks School was opened at Pentre Clai. It consisted of a boys' and a girls department. During the next twelve years eight other schools were established, the Blaina Ironworks School and seven Private Schools. All these were reported upon by the '' Commission on Education in Wales 1847 '' and make interesting reading.

Both departments of the Nantyglo Ironworks School was 60 ft by 20 ft dimensions and were considered good buildings and while the furniture and the boys department was sufficient there was a deficiency in the girls' department. 90 boys and 120 girls were attending school in 1847. Of these 39 boys and 77 girls had attended for less than one year, 27 boys and 16 girls less than two years, 14 boys and 6 girls less than three years, and 5 boys and 9 girls less than four years, and only two boys under five were attending school, 62 boys and 65 girls attending between five and ten, and above ten years, 26 boys and 43 girls. The average attendance of boys was 85 and the girls 105. 12 boys and 15 girls were living more than a mile-and-a-half away from the school. No individual work was given a and there were ten monitors in the boys' school and eight monitors and the girls' school.

The Blaina Ironworks School was established in 1845 in a building 40 ft by 20 ft (Church Institute) with accommodation for 167 children. There were 92 pupils on the books and had an average attendance of 82 of which 15 were living more than one-and-a-half miles away from the school, 18 pupils were under the age of five, 65 between the ages of five and ten, and 21 over ten years of age. There were ten monitors. The school was conducted on the Lancastrian principles and the vocal singing was very good.

The Cwmcelyn school (Stone Houses) (?) was established in 1846 in a building 30 ft by 20 ft with good furniture and accommodation for 126 children. Of those who attended 28 were under five years of age, 54 between the ages of five and ten and 26 above the age of ten. The average attendance was 68 and eight monitors were in attendance.

There were also five private schools, Rees Edmonds established his school in 1842 for 30 pupils but had 47 on the books. Thomas Aubrey establish his school in 1846 for 32 pupils and had 22 on his books. In the same year Sophia Eddie opened her school with accommodation for 18 and had an average attendance of 10. Mary Ann Shipway established her school in 1847 for 18 pupils but had 38 on the books, while in the same year Elizabeth Higgins, who had no school furniture opened her school with accommodation for 25 pupils and had an average attendance of 20.

The ages of teachers range from 22 to 51. The Nantyglo master had started teaching at the age of 16 and Sophia Eddy at 49. Previous occupation of Rees Edmonds, Tom Aubrey, Sophia Eddy, Mary Ann Shipway and Elizabeth Higgins were labourer, accountant and surveyor, no occupation, dressmaker, and dressmaker respectively .

The salaries of the teachers were as follows Nantyglo Ironworks School boys £70, girls £50. Blaina Ironworks School £40 and £20 sixpence, Cwmcelyn School £50; Rees Edmond £33. 10 s; Tom Aubrey £26. 10 s Sophia Eddy £4. 10 s Mary Ann Shipway £13; and Elizabeth Higgins £12.

Now the teachers had been trained except the master of the Blaina School who had spent seven months in Borough Road London in 1846 and the mistress in the Nantyglo School had taught six months in the Bridgend Model School.

The curriculum of the Ironworks School was chiefly confined to the 3 R's; history, linear drawings, land surveying and navigation were not included in the syllabus. The schools always opened with a hymn and in the Nantyglo schools religious instruction was undertaken by the minister, but in Blaina by the master. The school committee was in the habit of visiting the schools in Blaina, but in Nantyglo this formality was carried out by the minister. Lessons were always given in English. Welsh, the language of the home was debarred, no reference can be found us to the state of the education in the private schools.

On the whole the Nantyglo schools were badly conducted and the girls were superior to the boys. The Bible was read as a reading exercise and seldom with any attempt at comprehension of its meaning. The commission was amazed to find that the second class thought Ireland was in Africa and that the people in Turkey, Scotland, Spain and Canada were black!

It was at this time that the English language was beginning to gain ground. One can but conjecture what would have happened if the children who attended school had been educated in the mother tongue ‘’ Yr hen caith Cymru ‘’. In 1931 only one person in Nantyglo and Blaina spoke Welsh and 57 spoke Welsh and English. What will the 1951 census figures reveal?

For twenty years the educational life of the area was chiefly centred in the Ironworks School or the National Schools as they were sometimes called. The private schools had a precarious existence. The masters of the schools were often men who had been acquired in the works. Levick who had built the Cwmcelyn school had spent over £3,000 on its erection. It can be stated however that the standard of teaching was low and children would leave school whenever work was available in order to supplement the family income.

In 1860 to be revised code of regulations was announced in Parliament and confirmed by the right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council in Education in the minute 9th May 1862. Chapter I Part I Section I. Stated that in every school receiving grants is to be kept beside the ordinary registers of attendance (1) and a diary or log (2) a portfolio wherein may be laid all official letters which are be numbered 1 – 2 – 3 – and so on in order of their receipt.

From these logbooks much domestic information can be gleaned of the educational life in Nantyglo on Blaina and the following extracts are taken from the Blaina British Infants School from 1862 to 1867.

December 3rd to 1862. Thursday commend school at 9:15am.
Closed school at 12am.
Commenced school at at 2pm.
Closed school at 4pm.
Punctuality – good.
December 8th Pay Monday: Children’s pence collected: Weather being wet and stormy rather late in opening school – few children in attendance. Lesson neglected to be brought by monitor told her to bring it.
December 12th Summary of Inspectors’ Report the Infants are kindly managed – the teaching is good of its kind and with more apparatus the school would doubtless work admirably.
Fred K. Levick manager.
Reports of school arrived this morning. School dismissed early preparing for tea-party to be held in the boys’ school. In the evening speeches (appropriate to the occasion) were made and the presentation of desks having been made to two P. T’s, leaving the evening’s enjoyment closed.
15th December: government money arrived morning. Afternoon more it has cautioned against low teaching; other classes being interrupted by it.
6th January 1863: Teachers singing – practice for a school concert.
8th January: half holiday. Concert in the evening.
10th January: all school detained 10 minutes to search for missing article.
27th January: monitors reprimanded for loitering after school hours.
4th February: E A Jones and M Job both sent at 3 to see for third her absent children. School taken by mistress.
9th February: money collected for past month. Few children on pay Monday.
16th February: P. T’s sent to see for absence scholars.
16th March: marriage of H.R.H. Prince of Wales and the Princess Alexandra. No school all day.
4th May: several all scholars returned.
9th June: teachers sent to see for arrears of school monies.
15th June: dismissed at 3 on account of children having to be early to see some dissolving news – order fair.
9th July: broke-up for summer vacation. August 4th reopens.
10th August: order not so good. Whole school stopped in their work to sit still for 10 minutes.
14th October: A Government Inspector visited the school to see how many were or were not vaccinated.
29th January 1864 : Magic lantern in the evening.
10th March: children went into the girls’ school to witness an exhibition on Chinese curiosities.
7th July: children assembled at 11 with buns were presented to them by Mrs Levick and daughters.
22nd July: holiday for the day. Choral Festival in the Church.
1st December: Governors went into the girls’ school to assist in distributing the Doreas work.
7th August 1865: very few in attendance on account of a tea-party held in the cricket field.
5th November 1865 : pupil-teacher examination at Risca.
10th August 1866: children assembled at 2, lesson until 3 when they were taken down the village to see some waxwork.
28th May: attendance rather low in consequence of the strike of the workmen.
23rd November : children went into the boys’ school to hear an address upon Temperance.
21st January 1867: teachers sent for absentees. Messages were, but the children were ill or that the weather was too cold.
5th August: the falling off for the attendance owing to the unstable state of the works.
5th October 1864 : Summary of Inspectors’ Report. Under ordinary circumstances this department would evidently have made good progress during the past year. But the stoppage of the works on which all the schools depend has affected the attendance that they are skeletons of their former selves and it is understood that they will be closed immediately.
This school was finally closed with the Inspectors’ report.
N B the next entry was on February 7th, 1873 as the Blaina Infants School.

It was not until the Forster Act of 1870 that education began to make any real advance. The Act provided for compulsory elementary education for children under school boards. Four years later the Aberystruth school board was set up as a result of an order by the Lords of the Privy Council dated Whitehall 23rd December, 1874. An election for members of the board took place on Saturday February 28th, 1875, 28 persons had been nominated, 19 withdrew and so the remaining were elected and became the first Aberystruth School Board. Among those elected were, John Thomas, Brynmawr; D Seys faff Lewis, Brynmawr; Edmond Morgan, CoalbookvaleHouse; Dr Soper, and Titus Phillips The first meeting took place at
Victoria Room Garnfach. Andd it was here for a very long time that the board met for its meetings. The Nantyglo National school was not included in theboards’ supervisions because it had be condemned by Her Majesty’s Inspectors. At this time there were 597 pupils on the registers of the Blaina schools, with an average attendance of 386 while at the Nantyglo school there were 499 pupils on the registers with an average attendance of 292.

Immediately the board began to discuss the building of a new schools in Nantyglo and a proposal was made to alter the National school to accommodate 250 boys and erect two new schools to accommodate girls and infants, one near Ty Meddyg and the other near Wesley the Chapel.

In the same year the Nantyglo on Blaina Ironworks Company offered to sell their school at Blaina for £1,500 and to rent the Nantyglo school for 16 shillings a month, an offer the board was prepared to accept on the distinct understanding that the annual grants would not be withheld on account of the defects in the building and the board concluded its first years working by appointing a stipendiary monitor at £4 per annum.

As a result of negotiations the board took over the Blaina Ironworks School on the 1st January at 1876. Mr H A Sproule the headmaster suggested to the Board that it should continue to pay him the government grant of £7 per annum for giving the religious instruction and when this was not for forthcoming he admitted religious instruction from the syllabus. The school fees at this time were 3 1/2 pence per week but Mr Sproule was obliged to confess that a number of children never paid any fees .

In February 1876 the first school managers met and ordered a census of children in the Nantyglo area. From the coalyard in Brynmawr to the King William Nantyglo there were 819 houses containing 1076 children. Of these 492 children attended school and 584 did not. Of those attending school, 365 children went to the Nantyglo school, 19 to Blaina school, 10 to Darenfelin school, 92 to the Brynmawr National School, one to Beaufort, and 16 to a private school. The Blaina master who had given three months’ notice, was allowed to leave on condition ‘’ but he found another certificated teacher to take his place ‘’, while the school fees had been raised to 2 pence a week.

Definite proposals for a new school at Garnfach were made in March 1876 – to accommodate 500 pupils. Mr Price landowner offered the piece of land near the King William but the board suggests a piece of land near the Greyhound.

The Education Act of 1876 gave the board directions. A child was to attend school above the age of five (and not more than thirteen) unless it had a reasonable excuse for not attending; or was under effective instruction in some other manner; or unable to attend because of sickness; or who lived more than two miles from the school.

However a child of the age of 10, who has been certified by H M I to have reached the 4th standard of education was to be totally exempt: also ‘’ any child of the like age, who had been in the like manner certified as having reached the third standard of education prescribed shall be exempt from the obligation to attend more than half the day of the meeting of the school in any one week ‘’. Failure to carry out these obligations could be punished by being summoned in the local chords and a fine of five shillings inflicted.

The school fees for the year in 1876 amount to £139. 13 s 6 d and the local expenditure for the schools in the parish amounted to £4,730. 11 s 70. Three weeks holiday was allowed in summer and two weeks to Christmas. The Board encouraged its pupil teachers to pass various examinations, and on one occasion James William and Mary Tucker were presented with ‘’ Macaulay’s essays ‘’ strongly and elegantly bound on the recommendation of H M I. The master was allowed to have mistress pay for conducting the girls school in her absence and during the same year Jane Lewis was engaged as a monitor at 2/6 a week.

Not attendance was one of the chief problems that confronted the board and in February 1877 the first attendance officer in the person of John Collins was appointed at a salary of £20 per annum. His duties were to keep the register of children of school age in the parish, attend major meetings, and report cases of non-attendance.

In his first report he drew attention to the poverty prevailing in the area which was a contributory cause of non-attendance, but there were many cases of wilful neglect. As a result the managers directed that ‘’ parents who were too poor to pay their children’s fees should apply to the Guardian’s for payment of the same ‘’. At the same meetings they gave their whole – hearted support to the establishment of a University of Aberystwyth. Meanwhile an acre of land was offered the board for £300 at Ffosymaen. This was accepted and plans were drawn up for the Garnfach boys and girls school.

Prior to the session of 1877-78 the managers recommended the appointment of two monitors, half-time, between the ages of 10 and 13 at one shilling per week and the others between 13 and 14 years of age at a salary of £5 per annum and £4 for a girl.

When the school reassembled in the autumn of 1877 it was reported that the Good Templars of Nantyglo, who had used the school, had caused annoyance and damage furniture. The Board was warned by the education department that ‘’ Italian children had been stolen from their parents and imported to this country by persons who sent them into the streets to earn money ‘’. The Board was advised that it should rigorously enforce the Education Acts. Meanwhile the tender of W Jones, Brynmawr and for the erecting of the new Nantyglo school was accepted at the contract price of £3,517. 15 s. This was later rescinded by James and Son, Bridgend, was given to the contract for £3,900.

The collection of school fees was always a source of worry to the Board and so in December 1877 the managers were instructed to select three cases from each school and proceedings be taken in the County Court for the recovery of fees. The Board next attempted to introduce a kind of means test with a minimum fee of 2 d but an over man, pit captain, farmer, to be charged 3 d, or 4 d, or 6 d.

1877 and 1878 we two years of distress in the area, and a uniform fee was imposed and the Board ended its first three years by granting the Berea Chapel the use of the Blaina School because of the subsidence in their place of worship.

The new school Board elected in February 1878 was informed that code should only permit of an assistant teacher when the average attendance exceeded 200: so it decided to advertise for a teacher at £40 per annum while it magnanimously agreed to pay for certificates of birth in the cases were the parents were too poor to do so, at a rate of 2 d each. Incidentally J W Parry was appointed headmaster of Cwmyrdderch in 1879 and J W Hall, Head of Blaina School who later became the first director of education for Monmouthshire, was forced to complain about the state of the School House.

In June it 1878 school reports were issued and on the whole the results were very credible. Still the attendance remained low, partly because of the inability of parents to pay school fees and partly because children were taken to work ‘’ below the age fixed by the mines regulation Act ‘’. The mine managers were asked not to give employment to children under 12 years of age, and in desperation the Board fixed the school fees at one penny per week, but the Education Department refused to allow such a scale. In retaliation the Board resolved to remit half of the fee of 2 d in the cases of children under seven years of age. By December 1897, there were in the Blaina boys’ school one master, one assistant, one pupil teacher and four monitors. In the Blaina girls School, one mistress, one assistant, two pupil teachers and four monitors, and in the Blaina Infants School, one mistress, one assistant, three people Teachers and six monitors. The average attendance for the three departments was 480. It was at this time that the Board prosecuted three parents for the non-attendance of their children. They were fined and the Board distributed 2000 handbills throughout the parish ‘’ as a warning to other parties of the result of the magistrates’ decision ‘’: however great educational progress was made when the new Nantyglo Garnfach School was opened up in in May 1879.

The Board at next turn its attention to provide a census which was ordered for children living between the King William and the Rose Heyworth Pit. Of the 1226 houses, 161 and inhabited, there were 351 children at between the ages of three and five, 36 of whom were attending school. There were 1309 children between five and fourteen, 665 of whom were attending school, of those attending, 591 went to the Blaina School’s, 66 to Nantyglo School, four to the Abertillery British School, and 4 to a private school.

While preliminary discussions were taking place, the Board was pleased to grant the Blaina Band the use of the school for a concert on 17th March 1880, but it turned down a request from the Salvation Army for the use of the school pending the opening of their Hall. On the other hand, Bethania Chapel, Nantyglo was allowed use of the new school pending repairs to their Chapel. At this time also, evening classes were set up. 33 students attended, 25 presented themselves for examination and 24 were successful in reading, writing, and arithmetic and a total grant of £15. 7 S. was earned.

In December 1880 the Board took the next great step forward in educational advancement. It be passed a resolution to be forwarded to the departmental committee stating that it was the opinion of the Board that it was the duty of the government to provide for Wales and Monmouthshire a system of intermediate schools, two or three higher colleges and universities were the power to confer degrees.

The second triennial period ended with a report in school progress, again a credible performance: although one-tenth of the grant was deducted from the Nantyglo Girls’ School for faults in registration, William Roberts was appointed assistant at Nantyglo School at £32 per annum.

In 1881 the third it triennial elections being over, the Board applied its energies to the building of the New Blaina School. After various plans and specifications had been discussed and examined, it was not until July 1883 that the contract for the new school was signed. It was to accommodate 390 boys, 348 girls, and 528 (Infants) (?) at the cost of at £8,495. 11 s., the school houses and boardroom to cost £456, 10 s.

During these two years a new scheme of managers was adopted, and John Aled Jones, Minister of Salem was appointed school clerk and inspector at a salary of £200 per annum. He was expected to make written reports every week, check registers, make entries in logbooks, collect accounts and school fees and keep the general school cash book. Blaina school was rented as temporary premises for 25 shillings a month. Llewellyn Blunt and W Griffiths were successful out of 63 applicants for the post of Attendance Officers at a salary of 25/- a week to work in the whole of the parish area. There were no fire irons in the Nantyglo School, and the board considered that Cardiff was the best site for a University in South Wales.

Then in June it 1880 tool appeared at this minute. It indicates the economic troubles prevailing in the area ‘’ all pauper children are to bring their cards to school every Monday morning to have their attendance marked on them for the previous week, the cards to be returned every Tuesday to be presented to the Pay Clerk as Relief would be discontinued unless this was done, (or) children could give legitimate excuses such as illnesses for that non-attendance ‘’.

Other items of domestic interest which happened in these two years was the appointment of a school cleaner at 13/- a week. A serious epidemic broke out which however did not ‘’ prevent the onward march of learning ‘’. Buttonholing was the weak point in test exercises in the Blaina Girls’ School and the Reverend D Williams was asked to represent the board at the opening of the South Wales University College Cardiff, on 24th October, 1883. Proposals will also been made for a new school at the West Side, and Ellen Athay was appointed at the Blaina Girls School on 14th November 1882 at a salary of £40 per annum.

On January 1st 1884, Blaina Central Boys’ Girls’ and Infants School were opened and the Board immediately gave its attention to the erection of a new school in Nantyglo, as the accommodation of the existing school had become too small and plans were submitted. The proposed accommodation was for 211 in the mixed department and 120 in the Infants department. The contract was secured by E Morgan for £2,331. 10 s., the furniture to cost £169. 10 s., it was opened on 31st March 1885, William Roberts being appointed Headmaster out of the 46 applicants.

It was in it 1885 that the board decided toured prizes, ‘’ consisting of an illuminated certificate for each child who passed the Government examination in reading, writing, and arithmetic, and a book or card to each child who had not less than 300 attendances in the year ‘’. Libraries were also established in the schools, but school fees still remained. J W Stone of Heyton, bought the old school for £800 and an ambulance class was granted the use of Blaina School. Primitive Methodists held services in the school, and T Shaw Phillips gave ‘’ a series of reading from Shakespeare ‘’ in the school, while Bethel Baptists were granted ‘’ the use of Nantyglo Garnfach school doing repairs to their Chapel ‘’.

From now on the standard of education in Nantyglo on Blaina reached a high standard. The reports of H M I continually referred to the excellent work in all departments. In twelve years great improvement in the educational standard had taken place, and as if to show its appreciation of the good work done the Board unanimously resolved ‘’ to order 5000 school teas receipt cards, so that the Jubilee of Queen Victoria could be suitably celebrated ‘’.

At this time, 1889, the cost per child had risen to £2. 1 s. 11 3/4 d against £1. 13 s. 4 d in 1886; chiefly due to the increase of Trainee Teachers and the school leaving age was raised to ten. Temperance lectures were first introduced by the Board into the schools in 1888, the year J W Parry was appointed Headmaster of Blaina Boys’ School.

The local government Act of 1888 brought into being in the following year the Monmouthshire County Council, and the Welsh Intermediate Act was passed in 1890, which made provision for rate and state aid to higher education in the country. The County council immediately took steps to erect Abertillery County School which was opened in 1897 and for many years pupils from Nantyglo and Blaina attended that school.

Meanwhile the Aberystruth School Board was still responsible for elementary education. Blaina West Side School was opened in 1901, and Cwmcelyn in 19 01, and during the last decade of the 19th century much good work was achieved by the schools.

The Education Act of 1902, so the end of the Aberystruth School Board and the Technical Instruction Committee, the latter having been responsible for evening classes. Their powers were transferred to the County Council, and gradually improvements in administration were recorded. In 1906, they were given powers relating to the feeding of neccesitous children and in 1907, they were obliged to make arrangements for the systematic medical inspection of all schoolchildren.

The Education Act of 1918 required all Local Education Authorities to make provision for all forms of education. As a result Nantyglo secondary school was opened at Hafodyddal in 1924 and Evan Silk M.A. LL. B became its first Headmaster. Its establishment has had a profound influence on the educational life of the area. While the amenities of the school cannot be
regarded as first-rate, and while much improvisation has had to be made to school premises during the days of the inter-war depression nevertheless excellent academic and sporting records have been achieved, and many of its students hold important offices at home and abroad.

The Inter war years saw a gradual decline in the school and adult population and a lowering of the physical fitness of the children was observed. The 1944 Education Act is now slowly unfolding itself and while it is too early to comment on the results so far, it can safely be said that the education standard of the past sixty years will be maintained.