KS2 History U nit 11
Section 4
Teachers’ Guide
Unit 11:
What was it like for children living in Victorian
Britain?
Section 4: What was it like going to school in the late
nineteenth century?
Teacher’s Guide
The QCA objectives for this unit are for children to:
compare modern and Victorian schooling
communicate through drama their understanding of the nature of school
life in Victorian times
By the end of the module, children should be able to:
identify the features of a Victorian school, including buildings, clothes,
teachers
have an understanding of the transition that occurred following
education reform in the late nineteenth century, where children were
moved from the workplace to the school
There are several short activities to choose from, suit ed to a range of ability
levels, and students need not complete all the tasks.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
What were Victorian schools and classrooms like?
What did Victorian children wear to school?
What were Victorian teachers like?
Victorian School Log Book
Copybook extract
Victorian Lessons
Drill
Conversations from 1891
KS2 History U nit 11
Section 4
Teachers’ Guide
Activity 1
What were Victorian schools and classrooms like?
Either project the picture of the classroom onto the board or make enough
photocopies for each child or pair.
The main features of this classroom are that there are at least 80 pupils all in one
room, all sat in rows. Children of various ages appear to be taught in the same
room.
Other differences include the absence of any lighting, other that natural light
from the windows, use of blackboards, and the absence of IT equipment . Pupils
are sure to notice other, possibly obscure, differences!
Activity 2
What did Victorian children wear to school?
Another exercise in comparison. Photocopy the worksheet, and the
photograph if you cannot project it.
Ask the children to draw a child in the box, wearing typical Victorian school
clothes.
Label the various items of clothing in the left hand column and draw a line to
each item. Then do the same for the modern child.
Make sure they draw a boy or girl for both pictures. Encourage them to draw
things like trainers, watches (if allowed), or any other obvious differences
between the two sets of clothes.
When colouring the Victorian clothes use black, and neutral greys and browns.
Use more vibrant colours for the modern clothes.
Activity 3
What were Victorian teachers like?
Make copies of the worksheet, or have the children copy the list of Victorian
school rules from the board into their books (a very Victorian teaching method).
You could also make them recite the list of rules.
For a few minutes, impose these rules and play out the role of a Victorian
teacher:
If you have time, turn all the chairs to face the front
Make them sit up straight.
KS2 History U nit 11
Section 4
Teachers’ Guide
After the role play, discuss which rules they think are a good idea, and which
are too harsh or pointless. Consider why these rules might have been necessary
with a class of 80 children.
For extension work, write down a few of the school or class rules from today – a
good opportunity to review behaviour policy!
In terms of the philosophy of the Victorian school system, it was very much
designed to prepare children for work and the military. Children were
encouraged to be obedient, respectful, and punctual. The following extract
from a Victorian lesson is revealing:
„The lesson this morning is “To order myself lowly and reverently before
my betters.” Your betters are the landowners, the mine owners, the
factory owners, the Squire, the Vicar and all who provide employment
for you. You come to school to prepare yourself for future work. What
you learn here you apply to working life. Repeat after me, “I must not
lie or steal. I must not be discontented or envious. God has placed
me where I am in the social order. He has given me my own work to
do. I must not envy others. I will try not to change my lot in life. It is a
sin of which I will never be guilty.” „
Contrast this with an extract from the current national curriculum:
The school curriculum should develop enjoyment of, and
commitment to, learning as means of encouraging and stimulating
the best possible progress and the highest attainment for all pupils. It
should build on pupils‟ strengths, interests and experiences and
develop their confidence…
An extension activity might be to look at these two extracts, and discuss the
change in philosophy. Children could then help write a mission statement for
your class or school.
Activity 4
Victorian School Log Book
It might be interesting to project the original extracts from genuine Victorian
school log books to see if any children can decipher them, before handing out
copies of the transcript s.
KS2 History U nit 11
Section 4
Teachers’ Guide
You may choose to just show the children the extracts and discuss what they tell
us about the differences between a Victorian and a modern school. Why, for
instance, was sewing a more important subject than it is today?
You can see from Extract 3 that it was mainly the „Three R‟s‟ which were tested.
You can also see that the inspection included „garments‟ which would have
been sewn by the girls.
Discipline:
Punishment usually involved being hit on the hand
with a cane
Health:
Whooping cough was still a potentially fat al disease
and caused many deaths amongst Victorian children
Curriculum: The main emphasis seems to be on “the three R‟s” Reading,
Writing and Reckoning. The log book reveals a much stronger
emphasis on sewing than today
Alternatively you could ask the children to write some log book entries either for
their school today, or for an imaginary Victorian school.
Activity 5
Copybook extract
This activity simply shows how handwriting was taught in a Victorian school.
They would be expect ed to write neatly like this at an early age. You may need
to get the children to practise writing on some lined paper before attempting
the copybook.
Activity 6
Victorian Lessons
This activity contrasts modern and Victorian school days. Give t he children
copies of the worksheet
The answers are as follows:
1.
Why do you think Vict orian school children had two hours for lunch?
There were no school meals, and some children had to walk a long way
home and back for lunch.
2.
How many hours did children spend at school each week?
About 30 during the summer and 26 in the winter.
3.
How many hours were spent t eaching main subject s?
KS2 History U nit 11
Section 4
Teachers’ Guide
17 hours
4.
How many hours were left for ot her subject s?
13 (less in the winter)
5.
Why did some schools close at 4pm in the winter?
Because it gets dark earlier in winter, and many schools had no lighting.
6.
How many hours do you st udy Lit eracy each week?
7.
What do you t hink children learnt in “drill” lessons?
It was a type of PE that was very regimented, involving exercises
such as marching on the spot or swinging arms. Drill was often led by a
local military figure. It was thought to help children follow instructions and
improve coordination and health.
8.
Which subject s do you st udy t oday that were not taught in a Vict orian
school?
CDT, science, art, drama, music, were not given much emphasis in the
curriculum.
Activity 7
Drill
Give the children a drill lesson:
1.
2.
3.
4.
March the children out in a line, shortest at the front , tallest at the back.
Make t hem stand in two rows.
Make them shuffle out so that they are at least an arm‟s length apart from
their neighbour and from the row in front.
Almost any movement can be done in the drill style:
“On the count of one, raise your right arm, on the count of two lower it”
“One, two, one, two, one, two, one, two”. Repeat with left arm.
Try:
Raise arm to the side
Raise arm to the front
Turn head to side (“one”) and to front (“two”)
Raise leg
Combine leg and arm raises to march on the spot
March back into class
KS2 History U nit 11
Activity 8
Section 4
Teachers’ Guide
Conversations from 1891 (Drama Activity)
This is the final activity in this section. It is also quite a good summary of the whole
unit , so you might like to leave it until the very end.
Get the children to work in pairs to:
1. Create a conversation between the following two children.
It is the first day of school for child A, who has been working in a local factory
until recently. This was because his/her parent badly needed the money. The
local truant officer stopped the child from working in the factory and made
him/her start school.
Child B has been attending school for a year now, and tells his/her new friend
what to expect .
The following questions may help them develop a dialogue:
Child A:
When does the school day start/finish?
What breaks are there?
What sort of lessons will we do?
What is your favourite lesson?
What is the teacher like?
What punishments are there?
Do you like being at school?
Child B:
What was it like working in a factory?
Why didn‟t you come to school?
Would you rather be at school or work?
2. Create a conversation between a truant officer and a parent who would
rather send their child to work than school.
Officer:
Why aren‟t you sending your child to school?
Don‟t you know that the law says you must send you child to
school?
Do you know that you do not have to pay for your child‟s
education?
Parent:
What am I supposed to do for money?
What will happen if I don‟t send my child to school?
When will I be able to send them to work again?
Ask some of the pairs to perform their conversation for the rest of the class.
KS2 History U nit 11
Section 4
Acti vity 1
Activity 1 What were Victorian schools and classrooms like?
This picture was taken in 1870. It shows the inside of a typical classroom in a
town or city at that time.
1.
Estimate how many children
are in this classroom?
2.
How many children are there in
your classroom today?
3.
List some other differences between the Victorian classroom and your
classroom today.
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KS2 History Unit 11
Section 4
Activity 2
Activity 2 What did Victorian children wear to school?
This picture was taken in about 1890. It shows some typical working class school children.
1.
Draw a child wearing Victorian school clothes and label each item of clothing.
KS2 History Unit 11
Section 4
Activity 2
School clothes - 1890
2.
Now do the same for a child wearing today’s school clothes?
School clothes-today
KS2 History Unit 11
Section 4
Activity 3
Activity 3 What where Victorian Teachers like?
Were Victorian teachers much stricter than modern teachers? Take a look at this list of rules.
Victorian School Rules
1
Pupils must stand up to answer questions
and wait for permission to speak
2
Pupils must call teachers "Sir" or "Ma'am".
3
Pupils must stand when an adult enters
the room.
Pupils must use the right hand at all times
for writing.
Prizes will be given for good attendance.
4
5
6
7
Pupils must not put their hands up unless
told they can do so.
Pupils must not ask questions.
School Rules Today
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8
Talking and fidgeting will be punished.
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9
Children who are truant (late), behave
badly or do poor work will be punished.
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Punishment was usually administered by being hit across the hand with a ruler or a cane. Ouch!
Extract 1:
"Punished John Lewis, Arthur Morgan, Arthur King, and Sarah Davis, with one cut on the
hand each for not doing their home lesson. The last mentioned refused to take the cut,
but proceeded to leave the school, stating that I should not touch her, and that if I did
she would tell her father. Thereupon I gave her several cuts on the back".
“Cut” means a hit from the cane.
Extract 2:
29th March. Admitted a fresh little boy in the Infant Class this afternoon.
One of the infant girls died this week. Whooping cough is still
very bad with many of the little ones.
April 4th.
Mr Gough visited school this morning. Punished two boys for
playing truant.
Extract 3:
The order is good and the examinations are, on the whole, very creditable to Mrs
Cartwright. The third and fourth standards are the weakest part of the school, the
Handwriting being capable of improvement, and very few of the children working the
[mathematics] problems correctly: the results in English, too, were moderate. The
finished garments were good, but some of the specimens worked at the inspection fall
below a fair mark, darning and gathering being bad in the fourth standard, and the
work in the second standard being unfinished….
KS2 History Unit 11
Section 4
Activity 5
KS 2 History Unity 11
Activity 6
Section 4
Activity 6
The School Day
The Victorian school day usually started at 9am and finished at 5pm with a
two hour lunch break between 12noon and 2pm. Many schools finished
at 4pm in the winter.
Here is an example of the time given to main subjects during one week at
the Clifton Road Boys’ School, Norwood in 1886.
Prayers & Scripture
Reading
Arithmetic
Mental arithmetic
Spelling and dictation
3 hours
4 hours
4 hours
2 hours
4 hours
The rest of the week was usually spent learning history, geography, drill,
sewing for girls, and woodwork and gardening for boys.
1.
Why do you think Victorian school children had two hours for lunch?
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2.
How many hours did children spend at school each week? …………
3.
How many hours were spent teaching main subjects? ………………..
4.
How many hours were left for other subjects? ……………………………
5.
Why did some schools close at 4pm in the winter? ……………………..
6.
How many hours do you study Literacy each week? ….……………….
7.
What do you think children learnt in “drill” lessons? …………………….
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8.
Which subjects do you study today that were not taught in a
Victorian school?
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