Events

25th October 2025. Two events at Portsmouth’s ASPEX Gallery celebrating the life of Portsmouth’s Education hero, John Pounds the man considered responsible for the concept of “Ragged Schools” in the early 19th century.Education activities inspired by John Pounds

In the afternoon, fun for children in Key Stage 2 finding out what it would have been like to be a pupil taught by John Pounds in his cobblers shop in Portsmouth in 1833. Joining in hands-on activities based on John Pounds’s ideas about the curriculum. In the evening, a talk from local Portsmouth historian Matt Wingett based on the Reverend Henry Hawkes’ book published in 1884 – the only existing first hand account of John Pounds

Honouring our late Honorary Patron Fred Jarvis CBE, the National Education Museum organises and sponsors the annual Fred Jarvis Memorial Lectures. The lectures are available to view on the NEM’s YouTube channel at Fred Jarvis Memorial Lectures