The Middle Ages
	Most of the early schools were parish schools and were not so ambitious. They offered elementary education to the children of ordinary parents who wanted to get on in life. The humblest taught their pupils to read, learn prayers and psalms, "the Ten Commandments, the seven deadly sins and seven sacraments" (Nicholas Orme, English Schools in the Middle Ages 1973 ). Some schools were less religious - a school in Rotherham in Yorkshire founded in 1483 by the Archbishop of York, taught its pupils accountancy as well as grammar because the youths in that part of the country were more suited to worldly employment than to joining the priesthood.

It seems that the Yorkshire stereotype - interested in the practical things of life including making money - has a long history! At the grammar schools the pupils, drawn from the wealthier sections of town society, were expected to be able to read and write before they were admitted. They then went on to learn Latin grammar and compose Latin verse. French had also originally been part of the curriculum but had died out during the 14th century. Schooling was not free nor was it easy. The holidays were short, the school days were long often beginning at six in the morning and continuing until six in the evening with short breaks for food, the classes were large with up to a hundred pupils being taught in one room, and the masters believed whole-heartedly in corporal punishment.