Mattersey National School, Mattersey
From 1833 an annual grant was made to help organisations, such as the National Society, a Church of England organisation, and the British and Foreign School Society, a Nonconformist organisation, to build elementary (primary) schools. Both societies hoped to encourage poorer families to send their children to school instead of to work. Between 1833 and 1839 the grant was administered by the Treasury, thereafter a special department of the Privy Council was created to supervise the grants. Statutory provision for building grants ceased in 1870.
From 1862, headteachers in all schools receiving money 
from the Government were required to make daily entries in a school Log Book.
Under the Elementary Education Act of 1870, locally elected school boards were required to provide elementary ‘board’ schools, where existing facilities were inadequate. The School Boards determined whether or not schools were to provide non-denominational religious education. The British Society Schools were incorporated into the school board system but the Anglican National Schools and Roman Catholic Schools preferred to remain outside of it.
Under the 1880 Education Act school attendance to the age of 10 was made compulsory and in 1891 elementary education became free of charge. By 1899 the school leaving age had been raised to 12 years.
Mattersey National School was originally endowed by Edward Nettleship in 1742. A new school with adjoining masters house was erected in 1859 although evidence 
suggests that the proposals had been in circulation for a number of years as the estate papers of the Dukes of Portland held at Nottinghamshire Archives includes correspondence dated 1852 relating to the subject of a new school for Mattersey.
Whilst applications for building grants are preserved by The National Archives the plans associated with these applications, where they survive, are preserved in local record offices.
