Y5CF step back in time
Date: 20th Nov 2019 @ 2:34pm
Today Y5CF travelled by coach to Barnsley, to visit the Victorian Classroom to find out what life was like during the reign of Queen Victoria.
The day began, finding out a little bit about Queen Victoria; she had nine children with her husband, Albert. During her reign there were an incredible amount of different inventions created, such as the Penny-farthing, cars, cameras, and of course, most importantly schools. Queen Victoria and her husband Albert thought it was important for children to come out of the mines and factories, where they were getting injured or killed, and learn to read, write and count.
Today, ladies from the church and the school inspector visited the school to ensure standards were high. Most of the children were able to pay their penny - unfortunately Matthew Shepherd wasn’t able to pay today but promised to pay double tomorrow. The children showed Miss Sharp their hands but Herbert and Ethel Williams looked as if they had both been digging up potatoes (their hands were filthy, so they had to quickly wash them in freezing water).
In the classroom the children practised their handwriting using a slate board and pencil. Poor Lottie Innocent told tales about Henry Merrill and so was made to wear the Telltale sign. William Bray was unable to answer a simple addition sum - 8 x 10 - and was made to sit at the front of the classroom with a dunces cap on. Then, Martha accidentally dropped her slate, Ms Sharp was quite cross, and was made to wear the fidget shaming label. Next, Lucy Craddock was caught gossiping to her friends and made to stand at the front of the room and she had to wear the gossip sign. The girls quietly practised their needlework whilst the boys used paper and pencil to practising their handwriting skills. After that the children read. The girls had very basic words to read, whilst the boys had a detailed paragraph to read. Suddenly from across the room, Charles Sorbitt threw a book! Miss Sharp dealt with the incident swift. George Goddard was caught fidgeting and was made to hold the finger stops. At the end of the lesson Edward Vardy and Clara Fieldsend were awarded, by Miss Sharp, for their exemplary behaviour.
After the school room, everyone went outside to play with traditional Victorian toys. It was fun to play with the spinning top, skittles, skipping ropes and many more toys.
Following lunch, there were three different activities. Playing with the parlour games, writing pen and ink and investigating some of the equipment Victorian women used to keep the home clean.
Everyone agreed it was a memorable day, Milena said, “it’s been really fun”. Everyone learnt a lot and experienced new things.
