Wilburton New School

Wilburton School

History of Wilburton School

This is a Labour Certificate issued by the Isle of Ely Local Education Authority on 24 November 1913.

It certified that Rose Alice Shipp, of Twenty Pence Fen, Wilburton, born on 27 May 1900, had reached the age of 13 and had met the attendance requirements necessary to leave school and enter employment.

This document captures a moment just before major changes in education. The Education Act 1918 (the Fisher Act) later raised the school leaving age and made it increasingly difficult for children to leave school so young. By the mid-twentieth century, leaving school at 13 would have been impossible.

For a place such as Wilburton or Twenty Pence Fen, this is a valuable piece of social history because it illustrates the transition from childhood to working life in the years immediately before the First World War.