The Making Of Modern Britain #6: Reforms - Young People

Question 1

When was The Education (Provision of Meals) Act?

Answer 1

1906

Question 2

What is The Education (Provision of Meals) Act1906 also known as?

Answer 2

School meals act

Question 3

Who suggested The Education (Provision of Meals Act) 1906?

Answer 3

A Labour MP, demonstrating even at this early stage the Labour Party were committed to social reform

Question 4

What did The Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906 do?

Answer 4

• This act allowed local authorities to provide meals at school for poor children
• it allowed the local authorities (council) to charge a local tax to pay for this
• these taxes were known as rates
• children from better off families were expected to pay for their own meals

Question 5

2 successes of The Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906

Answer 5

• guaranteed a decent meal for children each week day
• challenged views of self help

Question 6

2 weaknesses of The Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906

Answer 6

• it was voluntary: in 1913 more than 50% of England and Wales schools didn’t provide free meals
• no provision made for school holidays

Question 7

What happened to The Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906 in 1914?

Answer 7

Governments started to pay half the costs of school meals

Question 8

When was The Education (Medical Inspections) Act?

Answer 8

1907

Question 9

Why was The Education (Medical Inspections) Act 1907 introduced? (4)

Answer 9

• The Report of the Physical Deterioration Committee in 1904 suggested medical inspections for children were needed to improve Britain’s health
• the committee had been set up to look at the reasons why Britain performed badly in the Boer War
• By this point, all children had to go to school, it seemed sensible to check their health while at school
• a new law suggested to start medical inspections of children at school, leading to 1907 Act

Question 10

2 successes of The Education (Medical Inspections) Act 1907?

Answer 10

• school boards could punish parents who didn’t look after their children
• checked for common conditions, ie lice

Question 11

What happened with The Education (Medical Inspections) Act 1907 in 1912?

Answer 11

After 1912, not all local authorities provided clinics, so from 1912 the government provided money to pay for school health clinics

Question 12

2 weaknesses of The Education (Medical Inspections) Act 1907

Answer 12

• no treatment was provided to ill children, parents had to pay
• after 1912, not all local authorities provided clinics

Question 13

When was The Children’s Act (Children’s Charter)?

Answer 13

1908

Question 14

Why was the Children’s Act (Children’s Charter) 1908 called ‘charter’?

Answer 14

A charter was a document that gave people certain rights or made rules clear

Question 15

What did the Children’s Act (Children’s Charter) 1908 effectively do?

Answer 15

Brought together many earlier laws about children and specified how the y should be protected and looked after

Question 16

2 successes of the Children’s Act (Children’s Charter) 1908

Answer 16

• parents had to use fire guards on open fires: 1000 children died every year from burns after their clothes caught fire
• child criminals were no longer to be sent to prisons with adults: special juvenile courts and the borstal system was set up

Question 17

2 weaknesses of Children’s Act (Children’s Charter) 1908

Answer 17

• borstals were often brutal and helped cause crime rather than stop and reduce reoffending
• ban on sale of alcohol and cigarettes to those under 16 didn’t really work

Question 18

Education Act 1907

Answer 18

1. A quarter of all secondary school places had to be reserved for children from poor backgrounds
2. Every child was to be inspected three times for health problems during their time at school
3. School boards could act against parents who sent children to school in poor condition