countryside and in St. Andrews. In 1917, when Strathkinness United Free

Church was combined with Ceres United Free Church, she and her husband

left Strathkinness.

As further Education Acts were passed more changes were made; the

infants room was enlarged in 1903, when the Mitchell Hall was again used

by the infants while work was in progress; a new building built for vocational

studies such as dressmaking, cookery and woodwork; and visiting teachers of

music, art, and physical training came regularly to the school.

The period of the First World War was a difficult time for the school in

Strathkinness, as it was for other schools. Plans to alleviate the overcrowding,

particularly in the infants’ room which had been condemned for years by the

Education Department, were at last ready to be implemented, but the war

put a stop to any building or alterations of any kind. Male teachers who

taught woodwork, drill, music, and art were almost impossible to get and if

appointed were apt to leave soon for the armed forces. Many farm labourers,

joined the forces and their families moved into towns, affecting the school

population. The practice of the agricultural removal term continued with its

consequent annual disruption of school work. Exemptions for leaving school

before the age of fourteen (raised from thirteen in1883), which had always

been allowed at the discretion of the School Board, increased greatly as there

a;

SCHOOLMASTER’S HOUSE (and WAR MEMORIAL)

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