The day started with a briefing on how to behave and the expectations of the teacher. Children had to remember to put hands up and not call out. They needed to line up in a row of girls and boys in height order, quickly and quietly. Upon entering the classroom children needed to stand behind their chairs and have their hands inspected for dirt. After this, children had to wait for the instructions on how to sit down. 1- pullout their chair, 2- step in front of the chair, 3- sit down and 4- tuck the chair under themselves and the table. When asked a question, they had to remember to stand up and say Sir at the end of every sentence.

The day began with prayers and morning songs, followed by shared reading. Then they had a verbal spelling test which we found really tricky to remember some of the words like gentry and emblem! Then they learned how to write using a pen and ink, remembering to be careful not to spill the ink. This was really tricky too! After writing, they learned arithmetic and was learning how to add all the numbers from 1 to 10 using a systematic approach to our learning. After this, they went out for break time and played with some Victorian toys, including Jacob’s ladder, cup and ball and hoops. This was the best part of the day!

At the end of the day, they learned about the punishments given for breaking the rules including the dunce cap, the finger stocks, back paddle and the cane. Overall the children learnt that Victorian schools were very strict and quite a scary place compared to modern day schools!

Have a look HERE at some photos from the day.