petty schools

Type of school existing in the 16th and 17th centuries in England to give a basic education in reading, writing and arithmetic to children before they entered grammar school. The pupils were called ‘petties’. The first part of Charles Hoole's New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching Schools (1660), is entitled ‘The Petty School’ and deals with the education of children aged five to eight. The schools themselves were usually of a low standard.