Absenteeism was high in both Church and the new State Schools  despite schooling for under 10's being compulsory from 1880 and for under 14's from 1918. This is not surprising given the needs of the poor population and the ability of a child to contribute to the household by earning small amounts of money especially at harvest or other busy time, taking on chores in the house and in the case of girls looking after younger children. Another problem was that even state schools charged a fee albeit low which again proved a problem for the very poor. Schooling were perceived as very low on their scale of priorities - what was the pint of educating their children when they would work on a farm, factory or go into service just like their parents. There were officers who were supposed to check on non attendance at school but in practice little was done. With such large classes teachers were privately relieved to have fewer pupils especially those who were less adept at learning. One of the ways of encouraging children to attend school was attendance rewards cards that were issued by the school boards for a period of attendance. In Essex attendance cards were mainly issued for one weeks attendance and then certificates issued for attendance for longer periods. The cards had picture on one side and a citation on the other. So many school boards took up the scheme that firms specialised in producing them and hundreds of sets were issues with pictures of famous buildings,scenes, animals, plants, people or anything that may interest the pupils. Reproduced below are some Essex cards that were awarded to Victor Achate in 1910 to mark his regular attendance at school. Victor was awarded cards form two sets - The first were views of Essex and the second views of London.