The girls of Newtown were sometimes criticised in the Victorian school Log Books as well as the boys. The two entries below are from Newtown National School in 1878 ...

11th January - "I find that after a very careful examination of the children belonging to the Girls Department that there are not eight girls who are able to work a simple subtraction sum and other subjects are not much better".
15th February - "Average attendance 176. School work progressing but the girls are a great drag upon the work".

For most of the Victorian age the teaching of the main school subjects to boys was treated more seriously than for girls. The jobs open to girls leaving school were few, and most in areas like Newtown would become domestic servants or workers in the textile mills.

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