The Lesson

Since pupils n Joseph Lancaster's schools were from poor families and there was no Government funding at this time there was little money to buy equipment. Lancaster's system enabled a single book to serve the whole school. The pages were separated and each one mounted on a board. Monitors selected the board needed for their lesson and it was hung upon the wall at the required teaching post, the pupils gathering around it on their semi - circle. Other economies which kept expense to a minimum were the use of sand trays and slates for the younger children to write on and, of course, Lancaster's famous monitorial system.