arithmetic, writing, Latin and Greek. In the 18th and 19th centuries, some dame schools offered boys and girls from wealthy families a "polite education". The women running these elite dame schools taught "reading, writing, English, French, arithmetic, music and dancing". Schools for upper-class girls were usually called "female seminaries", "finishing schools" etc. rather than "dame schools". Australia The first known school in Australia was founded in Sydney in December 1789 by Isabella Rossen. The second known school in Australia was founded by Mary Johnson in Parramatta in 1791. Both women were convicts supervised by clergyman Rev. Richard Johnson. See also History of education in England Public school (United Kingdom) Education in early modern Scotland History of childhood care and education Education in the Thirteen Colonies History of education in the United States References External links A Dame's School, photo Peter Henry Emerson (1856–1936) The Dame School by Frederick George Cotman A Dame's School by Thomas Webster The Dame's School by Thomas Faed Dame School – Staffordshire Figures 1780–1840 nps.gov school visits US site History of schools School types