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Our experience at the old, Victorian school was altogether amazing. The day started with an assembly in the monitorial classroom. This huge hall is the only one from that time left standing in our area, and most likely in the world. Back in the Victorian ages, it would have held 200 boys (this was a school for male pupils only) and the headmaster, Mr Fitch. We all put on spotless white aprons, used for covering our dirty clothes (actually our clean school uniform). The children who came to the school would have been very poor and would have most likely shared a sink with at least 50 other people, so it was hard to wash their clothes. We looked very realistic, with our Victorian plaits and buns, and now white aprons.
We then got into character with a Victorian lesson, which you would have had to pay a penny for. It differed hugely from a maths or English session at school. One of the first surprises was the contents of our desk: a slate, chalk, blotting paper and a piece of cloth...all unusual items for us! The only thing even slightly the same was the pen but, instead of having ink in it, you had to dip the nib of the pen into a pot of ink installed in the desk surface. Another thing that was a little familiar was the book, but even some points of that, eg the writing, were unusual.
What scared me was the morning hand check. We had to lay our hands palms up on the desk, and she walked round and checked them. Normally for us, teachers wouldn’t be extremely happy if your hands were covered with pen, but they wouldn’t start shouting and threaten to cane you!
That was another unique point: the punishments. They used things that we would never use today, for example the dunce hat: a paper cone with a D on it. When Alaina was set up to fail a difficult sum (impossible to even understand, let alone do in your head), she had to wear this, while sitting on an uncomfortable stool at the front of the class. Mylee was then accused of running straight into the headmaster, and so she was caned - not really, they pretended to, thankfully! We rounded off the lesson with a spelling test, but it only had one word: strive. The teacher would say it over and over again. One of her sayings was that children should be seen but not heard.
She was quite strict but I imagine that a real Victorian teacher would have been even worse. Still, it was all very fun.
Then we had lunch. For the children in the Victorian age, they would have had to run home for their lunch. And if they lived more than an hour away, then they would just have to go hungry. They did not have happy school days! The children must have been very creative at break times as they had no toys or games.
After lunch, we looked around the headmaster’s house. The headmaster had five children: four girls and one boy. One fact really amazed me, and that was that the four girls had to share a bed! Imagine sleeping head to toe with someone with extremely dirty feet. Most of the rooms were the same as today: the parlour (a dining and living room mixed together),
a kitchen, and bedrooms. There was also a larder, which was normally the coldest room in the house. They used this instead of a fridge or a freezer. But there was one room missing: the bathroom. Where was their toilet and sink? This question was answered when we discovered the outside cubicle. Imagine using that! Plus for night time, there was a mere pot. The bath was a metal tub filled with water that you would use in age order: Father, Mother and then the children. So if you were the youngest, the water would be a disgusting brown, especially if your father happened to do manual labour. That is where the saying ‘Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water’ comes from: you might not be able to see a small child in all of that murky brown water!
The day ended with a drill session: basically PE, but not PE. Instead of doing gymnastics, netball or running, you had to learn to obey the teacher: face this way, move your arms, and lots more! It was really fun, but I imagine that it would have quickly become a chore for the pupils who did it every day.
Altogether, it was an amazing trip and I learnt lots. I particularly loved finding out about the headmaster’s house and doing drill. It was really helpful for my understanding of that period in history to act as if it was still the Victorian times.
By Audrey L-S
When we arrived, we walked through an old Victorian playground. It was just a small space with a tarmac floor, surrounded by brick walls and had no greenery or climbing frames. We soon went into a big hall filled with long, low wooden tables. They were long and slim, meaning it would be hard for the Victorian children to put down all of their books and any other equipment.
We had to wear white pinafores and that was because in the Victorian times children at that school would be very dirty because they were poor so the nice, clean pinafores would cover up the dirt.
The big hall was old with white brick walls and lofty ceilings. It also had hanging toys from the walls to tempt the children to be good; if they behaved well, they would earn a toy.
We experienced the teachers’ behaviour and the type of work and punishments the children would get. The punishments were em- barrassing such as wearing a silly hat in front of the class, getting hit and wearing an uncomfortable back straightener all day. The teachers were stern but not nasty. We used ink pens in class and a slate board to write.
After the class, we went into the headmaster’s old house and saw rooms like the parlour and many bedrooms. There was no hot wa- ter or heating and the whole family would have to heat up water over a fire for a bath. The whole family would use the same water and the order would be the father, then the mother and after that it would be all the children from oldest to youngest.
Later on, we did drill which was the girls’ exercise. It was lifting arms up and leg movements because it was not ladylike to run and jump around like the boys. We also played with equipment like skipping ropes, cup and ball.
Overall, I really enjoyed the day and would love to go again.
By Edie I
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CREATIVE WRITING YEAR 6