For poor families the Dame School was generally the only available source of education for children. Generally conducted by an elderly woman from her own home, children would be instructed in the basics of reading and writing. There were, however, no set standards and in some instances little more than a child care service was provided. Sunday schools, founded in the late 18th century, provided the opportunity for education and made some impact on the literacy levels in England.

Dame schools flourished in the poorer areas of early South Australia until 1851 when the Education Act was passed: this established a Board of Education which supplemented teachers' incomes, which was paid out of the fees charged to parents for their children's attendance.

Free elementary education was granted in South Australia in 1891.

Miller, Pavla. Long division: state schooling in South Australian society, Netley, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 1986

Richards, Eric (ed.)The Flinders history of South Australia. Social history, Netley, S. Aust.: Wakefield Press, 1986

Walvin, James. A child's world: a social history of English childhood, 1800-1914, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1982

Encyclopedia Britannica online: dame schools

The Potteries: Background to education in the Potteries

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. To be a child August 2004-