Pupils travel back to the Victorian classroom for a day
Children at St Georges Junior School, Shrewsbury, had a taste of life in Victorian times this week.
Pupils and adults from Year 6 dressed for the occasion for the Victorian Day at school and even took on a typical Victorian name for the day.
Teacher, Mrs Olivia Physick said the day started with an assembly reminded of Victorian school rules, and some recited the Lord's Prayer. Before entering their classrooms, they were inspected for cleanliness and tidiness.
"In class, children learnt Victorian penmanship, took a Latin spelling test and learnt about trade in the British Empire. Children had to remember their manners and stand when adults entered: they even had to stand to recite times tables," she said.
The Victorian way of life spread across the whole day and into every lesson.
In PE sessions led by Crossbar coaches, children took part in traditional Victorian 'drills', which were formal exercises such as marching and following instructions.
"Crossbar also taught children about which sports were played during the Victorian era," Mrs Physick said.
"Children recreated the sounds of factories within music sessions through using instruments to emanate the din that could have been heard in noisy factories. During maths, some pupils budgeted for their weekly shopping using Victorian currency and even calculated what the equivalent cost today would be. Some pupils took part in sewing lessons and cross-stitched the date of Queen Victoria's coronation.
"Luckily, children were very well behaved so there was no need for the cane."
She said: "As well as gaining an insight into the lives of Victorian children the pupils now have a better appreciation of modern-day school."
