Researchers have identified a civilising mission in elementary schools in the decades around the turn of the twentieth century, particularly in poor urban areas. School log books from the 14 schools in Birmingham and Leicester, supplemented by other primary and secondary sources, are examined for insights into how headteachers perceived, and acted towards, their pupils and pupils' families. This article explores ways of reading and analysing log books, and considers their value as a historical source. It considers how far headteachers--particularly those working in schools in poor urban areas--were able to intervene in practice in the lives of their pupils, and the implications of this analysis for thinking about the work of teachers in the present day. (Contains 85 footnotes.)