This chapter considers the developments in the relations between the family and schooling over a forty-year period, from the beginning of the twentieth century to the start of the Second World War. Although the first twenty years of this century witnessed major educational innovations, it has been argued that, for the inter-war years, ‘there is little to write about’ (Gilbert, 1970). However, as Brian Simon (1974, p. 9) has observed, ‘failure on the part of government to implement policies which, at least, had widespread support is as much a matter of history as achievement of the most forward looking programme’, and he has written a lengthy, scholarly book dealing with those twenty years.