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About Schofield & Sims
Schofield and Sims Ltd. was established in 1901 by two headmasters with a lifelong passion for education. Their vision was to create a publishing company dedicated to educational excellence, producing books that parents and schools could trust, written by teachers and sold at affordable prices. Today, this vision is stronger than ever, driven by the principle of ‘a book for every child’, which acknowledges individual learning needs and nurtures children’s independence and pride in their own achievement. Schofield & Sims resources help children to work at their own pace in a structured, measurable way - keeping skills sharp and boosting confidence and attainment.
Company Information
The Schofield & Sims website is owned and operated by Schofield and Sims Ltd, which is registered in England at this address:
Schofield & Sims Ltd.
Dogley Mill
Fenay Bridge
Huddersfield
West Yorkshire
HD8 0NQ.
The company registration number is 00070903.
Company history and ethos: The power of the book
The story of Schofield & Sims began in the early 1880s when Colin Sims first made the nine-hour journey by steam train from Manchester to London where he was to train as a teacher. Sims enrolled as a student at Westminster College, a teacher training institution which had been established by the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in 1851. He arrived in a city that was still marvelling over the building of the Victoria Embankment, where electric light was used for the first time, and the mysterious obelisk Cleopatra’s Needle, recently transported to London from Egypt to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon.
A new era had just begun: as a result of the 1867 Reform Act, every adult male householder or lodger in the boroughs now had the vote. The new electorate included thousands of men who had received little or no education but were now enfranchised, and would therefore have a say in the running of the country. Many members of the ‘establishment’ of the day had little interest in education for the masses, preferring to expend their energies on maintenance of the social norms to which they had grown accustomed. Their indifference was encouraged by some evangelical Anglicans – whose belief that people are ‘predestined’ to salvation or damnation, and have little choice in the matter, deterred them from working for social change.
Education for all
It was with vision, foresight and a degree of courage that the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe, among others, drew the Government’s attention to a fact that with hindsight and through twenty-first century eyes may seem obvious: for the reforms of the 1867 Act to be truly democratic the Government would now have to educate its new ‘masters’. So began the long debates that finally resulted in Gladstone’s Elementary Education Act of 1870, which made education compulsory for all children aged between five and 13 years. However, it could not be implemented overnight: school places had first to be created.
The 1870 Act enabled over 2500 district ‘boards’ to look afresh at the delivery of education in their own areas – until then, the main providers of education had been voluntary societies. If there were not enough school places, the boards could use the rates and government grants to fund more; they could also make their own decisions about whether to charge fees or provide free education. School boards were composed mostly of socialists and members of the non-conformist church. They were both democratic and progressive and because of this they allowed women to take part and to vote on educational matters, encouraging them for the first time to become involved in public affairs. Board schools rapidly became the norm and by 1880 there were already sufficient schools in the country to make attendance compulsory for children up to the age of 10.
Non-conformist roots
Once Sims had qualified as a teacher, he returned to Lancashire – a county basking in the newly-created glory of Blackpool’s ‘Illuminations’, which emitted the same amount of light as 48,000 candles. The burgeoning world of education, if not quite as dazzling, was now firmly established as an area of enduring public interest. Sims’ talents as a teacher quickly blossomed and by 1884 he was headmaster of a school in Leigh, a market town between Manchester and Wigan. At the junction of two major canals, Leigh was originally a farming community but by the mid nineteenth century it was at the heart of the cotton industry, and the increasing popularity of rail travel meant that its rich supplies of coal were also in great demand.
During the second half of the eighteenth century, John Wesley had preached several times in and around Leigh. Unlike more mainstream clergymen, he preached salvation for all – and his message brought hope to the poor in particular, who were encouraged and inspired to take control of their own destinies. After Wesley’s death in 1791, his ‘Methodist’ movement separated from the Anglican church and began to build chapels and schools – particularly in textile and mining districts. The Leigh Wesleyan circuit was founded in 1805 and it was in this strong non-conformist community that Sims’ school, the Bedford Wesleyan Church School, had its roots.
At the time when Sims was appointed as headmaster, yet more major changes to British society were in the offing. In 1884, another electoral Reform Act further extended the vote to male householders in county constituencies, thus giving the vote to some of the most poorly educated people in the country. This prompted a petition to parliament concerning ‘votes for women’: it seemed grossly unfair that the vote was still denied to ‘educated and intelligent women’.
Path to a better future
Sims excelled as a teacher and was complimented for his ‘painstaking and successful work’ and his ‘high Christian character and influence’ at Bedford Wesleyan Church School. Then, as now, education was a highly political subject. At that time, a power struggle was going on between on the one hand the establishment and the Church of England, and on the other the non-conformists and socialists. The issues were complex, but one aspect of the struggle arose from a conflict of opinion concerning the ultimate goal of education. Whilst the establishment wanted to strengthen the workforce with efficient clerks and bookkeepers, educating them to a certain level and no further, the non-conformists had a rather different end in mind. Instead of telling people what to think, they wanted to show them that hard work and disciplined study, combined with concern for others, high moral standards and a modest lifestyle, could enable them to achieve great things. For them, education was open-ended – a path to a better future rather than an end in itself.
As the debate between the different factions continued, Sims found himself in a difficult situation. He loved his day-to-day work as a headmaster. Yet he had a growing interest in the provision of education for more of the country’s children than he could possibly reach in one school. At length he decided that it was time to move on. After almost 20 years at Bedford Wesleyan, leaving was a wrench. Much praised for ‘the very valuable service’ he had given and the ‘high state of efficiency’ which the school had attained under his influence, he finally cleared his study and stepped out, with some trepidation, into an uncertain future.
A book for every child
It was around this time that Sims renewed his friendship with Wright Schofield. Two years older than Sims, Schofield had been a fellow student at Westminster College. A Methodist like Sims, he too had become a headmaster, and was now settled in Brockholes, Yorkshire – over the Pennines from Manchester and just south of Huddersfield. Schofield’s home area, like that of Sims, was dominated by mills, but in this case they wove wool rather than cotton.
In 1901, Schofield and Sims embarked together on a great adventure, fulfilling a shared ambition: to use their wealth of teaching experience to write and publish schoolbooks. Inspired by John Wesley, who had brought spiritual instruction to the masses by publishing hundreds of cheaply produced books, Schofield and Sims sought to take education to the masses with affordable, high-quality books that could be used throughout the country. Their vision was to provide ‘a book for every child’. At this time, long before the advent of any kind of national curriculum, it was books that shaped the curriculum rather than vice versa. Therefore the influence of the book was crucial.
Meeting needs and aspirations
As Schofield & Sims began their daunting task they enlisted the help of Sims’ older brother, John Marshall Sims – who had worked in the building industry in Leigh for most of his career, retiring to Blackpool in 1902. A governor of Leigh Grammar School and a prominent member of the Leigh community, he later served there as a councillor and was renowned for his support of many causes including the provision of public reading rooms and recreation areas, building improvements and any other schemes that had the potential to ‘uplift the working classes’, meeting their needs and aspirations. His obituary in the Leigh Journal of 29 January 1926 shows him to have been a true philanthropist, sharing many of the same ideals as his younger brother:
Councillor Sims had clear and definite notions of duty and always acted in accordance with them. He believed in judicious economy with regard to expenditure, and at the same time was in favour of those schemes of progress and improvement which, without being extravagant in cost, were calculated to benefit the social and intellectual condition of the people. Having been an artisan himself for many years, he understood both the needs and the aspirations of working men.
Schofield & Sims’ first offices were in Huddersfield town centre – first in Market Street, and then in St John’s Road. The prosperity brought to the town by the textile industry was evident from the fine Victorian buildings, including an imposing railway station and an impressive town hall.
Serious about education
By the time Schofield & Sims began trading, the board schools were united in their aim: to provide a sound education to all children – focusing particularly on English, mathematics and music. New educational initiatives were springing up all over the country. For example, the Manchester and Bradford boards had begun serving free school meals to the poorest children, and the London School Board was providing separate classrooms for each age group, a central hall and special rooms for practical activities. However, each board school shared the same ethos, which was a genuine desire to help children develop into responsible citizens in a newly democratic country. The school boards were serious about the intrinsic value of education. Yes, some of the children would one day become skilled workers and others might excel in academic work. However, ensuring that the new generation could read about, understand and make reasoned judgements concerning the issues of the day was of prime importance. All these values were important both to Schofield and to Sims, and resonated strongly with their own beliefs and principles.
Meanwhile a Conservative government had come into power and was striving to gain control of the emergent educational system. Despite huge opposition from members of the non-conformist church, along with Liberal and Labour party members, the 1902 Education Act abolished the board schools and passed the organisation of education to local authorities. This major political issue contributed to the Liberal Party victory in the 1906 General Election. A Liberal Education Act in 1918 made education obligatory for all children up to the age of 14 and provided additional school services including medical inspections, nurseries and help for pupils with special educational needs. Many further Education Acts have followed over the years, but the legislation of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries played a huge part in shaping the education system as we know it today.
Market leader in publishing for primary schools
Schofield & Sims’ prospered modestly, building a strong core of customers among the schools of Yorkshire and Lancashire, which then widened to cover the whole country. By the 1960s and 1970s, the Company was selling more than seven million books a year direct to British schools; it also developed strong international sales, supplying books to schools all over the English-speaking world. During this period the company was a market leader in primary education in particular, well-known for its bestselling primary mathematics scheme Alpha and Beta Mathematics and for the widely used reading scheme Through the Rainbow. These major sellers were supported by a full range of books for primary and secondary schools.
In the 1970s and 1980s, parents became much more active in their children’s education. In order to reach this growing market, Schofield & Sims began to sell books through independent bookshops and through WH Smith, which was the dominant chain of the time. During the 1990s, the Company found another way to reach parents: through merchandised stands in public libraries, particularly in the South of England; five hundred such stands are still in use. As the twenty-first century dawned, Schofield & Sims, like many other companies, began to sell books direct through its website; web sales now account for a substantial portion of its sales.
Tried and tested methods that teachers recommend
Schofield & Sims’ main focus today is still on literacy and mathematics, which were at the heart of the curriculum when the Company first started publishing – though the third subject, music, has been superseded by science. Whilst the Schofield & Sims approach to learning remains unashamedly traditional, using the tried and tested methods that teachers recommend, constant attention is given to new ways of helping children to engage with the learning process. Following a period of retrenchment and renewal in the late 1990s, the Company launched several new series, which are still being added to. These include Revision Guides, Practice Papers and new ‘learning workbooks’ for Key Stage 2, which reinforce children’s learning using the ‘theory–method–practice’ strategy. More recent publications include the Daisy Lane Home–School Readers, a new range of dictionaries and thesauruses for Key Stage 1 and books of number and word puzzles for Key Stage 2. The company expects to sell more than one million books in the current year.
Schofield & Sims remains true to its roots and faithful to the medium of the printed word. Its books are not written by educationalists or academics, but by experienced classroom teachers. The Company believes as strongly today as ever that the child who is at home with and who cherishes books will become a well-educated and well-informed adult. When a child sits quietly with a book, interpreting what he or she sees on the page, responding to instructions and independently completing tasks, enormous benefits will result.
Hard work and diligence bear fruit
Cleopatra’s Needle, so admired by Sims when he first arrived in London, still stands, though eroded by smoke and war damage; beneath it lie Victorian clothes, newspapers, coins and toys of the day – buried in 1878 in containers sealed for posterity. The college that Sims attended, now Westminster Institute of Education (and part of Oxford Brookes University) remains one of the most highly regarded teacher-training institutions in the country. Bedford Hall Methodist Primary School in Leigh continues to thrive, and in 2007 the Ofsted inspector wrote this to the pupils, ‘You do very well in lessons and exceptionally well in tests because you work hard and understand the importance of this for the future.’
At a time when change becomes ever more rapid, some things remain constant. Hard work and diligence still bear fruit and the power of the book is as strong as ever. In an industry dominated by large corporations, Schofield & Sims remains family controlled. The current Chairman is as passionate about education as was his great grandfather, Colin Sims, who founded the Company over 100 years ago.
