5th December 1890 - Year 5 go back to Victorian times...

Year 5 children today enjoyed stepping back in time as we enjoyed a Victorian school day.  See their comments on how they found things as they post them on the blog below.  Watch this space!

5T, 1890 style.

 I thought Victorian day was very strict and you could not do anything. I learnt that being a Victorian was very hard and that they need to work very hard every day. I would not like being a Victorian because it is very hard, tiering, strict and painful by someone hitting you with a stick. Their clothes where ripped, old and they could only afford one pair of clothing. The only food we could get was bread butter cheese and that’s it. You could not smile, turn round and you had to march.

Tony  5N

 

The Victorian Day was really an amazing and special day. Before going to school  I was really nervous about being hit and shouted at by the teachers as they used to do in the Victorian days.  However, as I arrived everything seemed interesting and enjoyable.  Everything such as clothes, food and the assembly made me feel like a real Victorian. I liked the assembly when we sang. I didn’t like the lessons because they were boring compared to the lessons nowadays. School was not amusing for Victorian children. Lessons were boring as children only learned reading, writing, arithmetic and object lessons. We learned about the potato which was really boring. However, I enjoyed the time when we wrote with ink and pen. We learnt a lot about Victorians during that day.  Honestly, I am really happy that I am not a Victorian.

Ibrahim Raslan 5N

5N, c.1890.

Dear  Dairy

I  was so excited on Monday because it was Victorian day.

The best part of the was weaving because you finally get

to do something fun. The worst part of the day learning 

about  the potato it was so boring! Drills were so strict

I would of preferred normal P.E . 

Did they have to check our hands and hair and the teachers were shouting at us . I only got one slice of bread !

Saira 5N

5S in 1890.

I liked Victorian day because it was fun and it told me how the Victorian children felt. I liked  the part when SIR Suter kept on hitting the cane on the table some people jumped back  it was funny .  At assembly I got sent to the front   because I started laughing so much. We had to bring bread witch  I didn’t    my class  ate some of there own bread after some time we got to eat our normal snack  for spelling we had to stand up and say the word then say spells the word It was so hard .  I think we should do this  every week because it is fun  we should do it more often Victorian day every day  the end Victorian lessen was when we had to make a toy they mad us write with our right hand it was easy for most  people the Victorians didn’t have any homework  the worst part was when we have put our shoulders back chest forward the best part was when we could write with the ink and pen!      by Ayyan Malik 5s

On Sunday I was very excited for Victorian day. Finally the day had arrived!

At the beginning of the day I didn’t know that we were going to start acting like Victorians when we came in the play ground, I was so excited I couldn’t stop laughing, Miss Thomas came and shouted, “wipe that smile of your face!” I became so nervous about the day in the end it was very interesting to act like a Victorian, my favorite part was when we could write with the ink and pen!   My least favorite part was going in miss Nido’s and miss Thomas’s room it was very scary.

I really hope we have another similar day!!!

Hala Samaha5S

Since we started this subject on Victorians we’ve been thinking how they were hit and now were quite lucky today the whole Year5 found out how it is to be a Victorian child in school. We were hit by a cane, got dunce for small mistakes, made to right with our right hand. But  Victorians didn’t have any homework, they didn’t do any hard all they did were times table, repeating words that the teacher said and object class. Well the most funny part was when we picked the potato and started hearing it, the worst part was when we have put our shoulders back chest forward which actually was hurting my back. The good part was when we have to I didn’t have to hear and right the sentences because of Ayyan and had to go to the to take the eye test and I not good at hearing and I knew that I was going to be hit by Sir Suter. I think we should have Victorian day every week because it as a lot of fun so I think we should do this more often

Saud 5S

Dear Diary,

Today was Victorian day. I loved all the costumes that they all dressed in. My classmates and I had assembly after, we practice our times tables that I enjoyed.  We sang a song that I enjoyed singing infront of the teachers.

 We headed back to class and practiced spelling words that made me learn a lot. We had to memorize a poem for the inspectors so the teacher was very strict about it, it was horrible. The teacher said we should work on our handwriting with ink we all had smudges on our paper so she started screaming at us I WAS ABOUT TO CRY!

Most of the boys were shouted at so we were lucky. It was break finally but the teachers were there we couldn’t talk at all so they left us to leave for their break I was so happy. Break finished and I was so sad we had to march to class I felt that we were in military school.

When we arrived to class we learnt about the potato I was so bored I was about to sleep.

It was time for drills it was completely boring!!

At the last hour it was sewing, I was confused I was begging it to end.

Now that I that I realized we should be happy for what we have and I definitely don’t want to be a VICTORIAN!!!!!

By Tara Haddad 5N

I thought Victorian day was fun but it was so scary .I only ate two bread and one apple but I was still hungry .In P.E we had to drills it was really boring .The normal P.E is much better. The class lights were off. The boys sit next to each other and girls sit next to each other .The teachers will not smile and also us .It was really hard being a Victorian child.The teachers will shout at us if we play with our hands or touch anything only when she says to touch that thing .The lessons were really boring. I learned something in the Victorian day I learned that you have to be grateful of what you have and where you are.

HUSSAH 5N

Today was my worst day ever because it was Victorian day. We came quietly inside our class room and sat down; the teacher read a book for us called Oliver Twist. After that we all had a booklet for handwriting, we all grabbed pen and ink and started writing, after 10 minutes our teacher informed us that we will have to go to assembly for checking our clothing, we all got checked well after we went to play straight away to play then we came back to class and sat down and completed our handwriting when we were done we learned about a potato my worse subject we all were about to fall asleep because it was extremely boring .

I was so happy when my teacher informed us that we had to go to drills, we all marched to the place we have drills when we finished drills we went to play .

The last subject was sewing; we sewed paper into a pattern. And that was the end of Victorian day.     

Nada 5N

Today we had our Victorian day at school where we had to dress as a poor  Victorian  schooler. It wasn’t fun or exciting, in fact it was extremely terrible to me.  Well first we had our assembly in the morning, but not a normal assembly we had  a special Victorian assembly where we first had to do the register then the teacher checked our shoes, nails and hair. Then we had to sing and take photographs.

The next period we had arthmatics(maths), It was too boring though because all we had to do was to write down our four times tables on a slate. Then after that we did handwriting but that was boring too because all we had to write was our alphabet again and again. Then we had break in which we ate bread. After that we had and handwriting.  We also had our object lesson when we had to learn about the potato and that was way too boring . 

At last we had drills but it was much better than the rest of the lessons. After that we had break and the last lesson was weaving for the girls and to make a paper toy for the boys and after that the day ended normally like everyday.

 Hamnah Hafeez 5N

Dear diary,

Today was finally Victorian day, at the beginning of the day we were playing outside and looking at each other’s outfits. We lined up and then we went to our classrooms. We did some math (our times tables) and then we learnt a song called all things bright and beautiful.  We went to the hall and then we sang the song that we learnt.  The teachers did an inspection on our hair, hand and nails.  My hair, hands and nails were absolutely fine. We also took class photos and then we headed back to the class. After we went back to the class, we went outside and ate our food.  We only ate a slice of bread and a slice of cheese but the rich people ate the same things but with an apple and butter. When we came back from playtime, we learnt about the potato and where it came from?  How did it become popular?  And so on……. 

After we learnt about the potato we did some handwriting and we wrote with ink.  We got a little mess with the ink on the table so the teacher told us to clean it a playtime. After we did handwriting, we went to the hall to do some drills, it was really fun but some people got punished. We went outside after we did the drills and we played with the skipping rope. We went back to the class but all the boys went in one class and all the girls went in another class. We did some paper weaving because we didn’t have enogh money to get what we needed to do weaving.

What I really liked to do best in the Victorian day was weaving because we learn how to do a new creative thing if we are bored.  The most thing I hated in the Victorian day was learning about the potato because we just learnt boring facts and we didn’t really learn any fun facts.  I am really happy that I am not a Victorian child because I would never like to live that way with getting punished by the teacher and  get hit all the time by the whip, I don’t really like learning boring things because I want to know a lot of fun facts instead of boring facts.  I really appreciate how I am living now and how I work at school and my family treats me very good so I love them really much.

Vian 5N

Victorian day started seriously where the teachers like Miss Tomas, Mr Suter and Miss Naidoo were very strict.

We first wore costumes from Victorian times such as grey trousers along with a waist coat and a brown cap. We used ink for writing and chalk along with a board for writing sums. lastly We ate food that the Victorians ate and this included  bread, cheese and apple.

Victorian day taught me that while the Victorian children had the same objective to learn as we do today they however used different methods to achieve them. Next time I would like to have Viking day to learn about their culture. 

Isaac 5N

Today  was  Victorian  day  at  school.  We  had   to  wear  like  Victorian  children. The  food  we  had  to  bring  was  bread  and  maybe  some  fruits  or  vegetables  rolled  in  kitchen  towel. In  class,  if  anyone  didn’t  follow  rules  he  would  wear  a  dunce  cap,  or  get  hit  with a  stick  by  the  teacher.  We  started   the  day  with  an  Assembly  then  Arithmetic  then   we  learnt  our  spellings,  later  we  had  writing  then  drill,  After  drill  we  made  our  own  toys. This  is  how  life  was  for  Victorian  children  at  school,  And  that  is  why  I  really  enjoyed  the Victorian  day.   

Abderrahmane 5N

In Victorian day, I liked it when we did make the thaumatrope that was a parrot in a cage. It was fun. When I did it, sometimes I saw it in the cage while I was blowing it.

What I didn’t like was when we did the drill. I didn’t like it because Mr Ashford was being strict andhe sent some people to the wall. I even didn’t like learning about the potato because we were learning it in a boring way. The way we were learning it was by repeating the answer after the teacher and then learning it off by heart.

What I feel about the Victorian children is that I feel sorry for them; because they had really strict teachers and they had really bad punishments.

I would never want to be a Victorian child in school because I don’t want to be caned.

Fayez 5N

Today we had Victorian day. We tried to get a feel for what it was like for children in Victorian times. School was not amusing for Victorian children. Lessons were boring and children only learned reading, writing, arithmetic and object lesson.

I liked arithmetic, assembly, object lessons and writing. I didn’t enjoy reading and singing too much. The rules were too strict for me and my classmates. I am lucky I didn’t live in Victorian times. Children, especially the poor ones had to work and go to school at the same time. That must have been very tiring for them.  Thank God school is not the way it was in Victorian times!

KAREEM HIJAZI 5N

Victorian Day was really fun, but however I don’t really think I would like to live in Victorian times. The teachers were very strict and we weren’t allowed to smile! The object lesson was REALLY  boring and the drill (P.E.) was awful! If we didn’t wear shoes or if we laughed, we had to stand in the corner! My back is still hurting from standing up straight and my legs are aching from marching! (I’m sure yours would if you marched everywhere in mid-heeled boots!)  I was starving! I can’t believe we could only eat cheese, bread or an apple! I don’t think the ink is going to come off my fingers any sooner than 2 or 3 days!

I think the best part of today was when we did handwriting and the paper weaving. It was fun, but hard, because some people (including me) cut the strips the wrong way round! There was a lot of pressure because Ms.Naidoo and Ms.Thomas were going about telling us how bad we were doing and that we wouldn’t get employed as a housemaid.

Talking about teachers, Ms.Thomas really scared me in the morning when she was shouting at 5S and 5T, I wasn’t really expecting it… Ms.Naidoo looked like a real Victorian, and BOY did she treat us like one too!  Mr.Suter looked like a Victorian, too. (But I think, he looked a bit funny with the hat!)

Victorian Day taught us 2 lessons:

 #1. It taught us how Victorian children lived and how school was like in those times.

#2. When you compare our life to theirs, it gives us something to be grateful of. It shows us the great things we have:  a wonderful school with caring teachers and happy children around, delightful lessons with no pressure, fun playtimes and enjoyable lunch breaks.

By: Deniz Kirci ,5N

The best thing in Victorian day was that we could write with pen and ink, my writing was very good in it and Andy’s was also very good, it was so good it was better than his normal and Mr.Suter said that Samar wrote better in her right hand than in her left hand. I also liked P.E because the second half of it we played dodge-ball and our teachers never found out. But the worst things were that when we were walking or lining up we had to put our shoulders back, make our back strait, put our chin up and swing our arms gently. When we wanted to answer we had to stand up which personally I think is a waste of time and poor old Samar and Sherouq they had to write with their right hand and got their left hand tied up so they couldn’t write with it. But at the end we surprisingly all had fun.

Charbel 5S

I enjoyed Victorian day since it was the first time using an inkwell ! it is surprising that my handwriting is neater with pen than in pencil! Unlucky for left handed pupils (only 2 of them) were forced to write with their right hand. One of them had horrible handwriting even worse than mine! 2 children sat in the corner with the dunce hat, the girl with the horrible and a boy who answered incorrectly. One thing was PE we had to sway from side to side with our hands on our hips 50 times! I enjoyed the rest of the day.

Andy 5S

Victorian day was horribale because im left handed and had to write with my right wich was hard. In P.E it was marching and turning your waste which hurt my back and was boring. I wish to take all those bad things about school after seeing fictorian day. The food didnt tast nice because it was only bbread and cheese and if you were rich you would bring an apple.but in all of that the stupied thing was learing about was po tat to and when we had to repeat like a parrot.

Samar 5S

Victorian day was great!!! The teachers were very strict but not too strict which was good. In P.E. we did the drill, exercise, marching and at the end of P.E. we came to normal and played dodge ball which was fun but as we got back in class we were back in character. In the last lesson boys made a Victorian toy and as it was hard we came to normal to do it (hooray!). The girls did weaving. I didn’t get hit with the cane (really no one did) so it was good and I didn’t have to wear the dunce hat but at the end of the day everyone in my class wore it. I would still like to be in a modern school because a Victorian school would be more strict.

Humza 5S

I loved victorian day it was so much fun i wish it happens every day :)

Fay 5S

victorian day was quiet fun bit very strict, when the girls had to go to the paper weaving i got nagged alot for not doing it correctly. When we had to answer a question we had to stand up and sit down, we were not allowed to sit untile told, we were not allowed to smile which i couldn't help it. It was quiet scary and tiering. But the best thing was writing with ink and pen. I whish we can write with it again.

Ju Won 5S

What I liked was........

I really liked when we wrote with ink pens it was very fun. But the problem was that we had to put ink every single time when we want to write a word.

I also liked when we went to the playground and only ate bread and cheese.

And I liked when we sang the song in the assembly hall.

I also liked the costumes of everyone in the class.

What I didn't like was.......

I didn't like when we went to P.E because Mr.Ashford was already scary so his scariness with victorian scariness he will be very very very scary.

I didn't like writing on the slate because it didn't have space to write and, i don't like writing with chalk.

I didn't like to say mam and sir all the time.

I didn't like the poem that we had to learn by heart.

I didn't like the teachers being so strict.

But although it was kind of hard I still enjoyed it.

Thank you Mrs.Thomas,Mrs.Naido and finally thankyou Mr.Suter.

Faisal Darwish 5T

What I liked best about Victorian Day was when we had to do handwriting with pens and ink. What I liked least of Victorian Day was when we did dictation, because you read it too fast and some of the words were complicated. I also didn't like the rules of Victorian Day like the rule where you had to stand when you reply to a question.
Jauda 5T

On Victorian day, I enjoyed writing with pen and ink. I also enjoyed P.E and weaving a bit. I didn't enjoy it when we had dictation and when we had to repeat a poem thousands of times. The teachers were also too strict! All I could eat was bread and a bit of cheese.

Martina 5T

On Victorian day I did not like the teachers screaming at us,repeat us the poem a lot of time,dictation.I liked the pen and ink,p.e and I liked lining up ,boys alone and girls alone.
By HANNA BAHSA 5T

I liked that at the end of the day we made our own toy,I did not like the ink and pen, the teachers being strict and repeting the poem so much.

Rad

On Victorian day the best thing I liked was when we did P.E and weaving. The things I disliked were when we did dictation and the teachers were very stricked and we also had hardly anything to eat.

from,

Umnia Saqib 5T

In victorian day the best thing I liked is when teachers shout,because like when they speak it's like funny to me. The worst thing I hate is P.E because we just did exercise,the other thing I hate is the ink and pen because its like panting and I hate painting,and the last thing I hate is the poem because we made lots of mistake and then we repeated it like fifteen time that part I really hated. Being a Victorian is really hard.
By:Thaqib 5T

These are the things I liked about Victorian Day .

likes

1. Writing with pen and ink.

2 .P.E

3. Writing on a slate whith chalk

4. When answering we had to stand up

5. Talk when been asked

6. No laughing

7. When we had to say hello we had to bow

8. Being seperated from the girls

9. Had to be straight while wakling and standing.

dislikes

1. Marching around the school

2 .The teachers shouting at the children

Victorian Day was a good experience.

By:Agop 5T 

My Thoughts about Victorian Day

What I like best about the Victorian Day is we get to write with pen and ink and we get an easy maths lesson and I got to sit next to my best friend and the teachers didn’t correct our dictation because I missed like half the story.  What I didn’t like is the morning assembly we had to stand up almost the whole time.  I didn’t like the poem because we had to repeat it like 20 times.  I also didn’t like the teachers being so strickt.  Except for bread and cheese we didn’t eat anything.  When it was break everyone was shouting.  It was like our 15 minutes of freedom!!!  By Effat 5T

This is  the thing that I liked about Victorian Day:

P.E. was fun.

This is what I hated about Victorian Day:

You screamed at me, I didn't like the part when we had to write everything what you said, the poem, the singing and the marching.

Thank You,

From, Adam 5T

This is Ahmed.I'm telling that what I liked the most in Victorian day. I liked the most is when we wrote in the Victorian pens and using the Ink I even enjoyed P.E when we had to march around the P.E hall and doing exsersizing. Now for the thing's that I dislike.I hated the most was when the teacher's yell on you and when you want to say a answer you have to stand up and tell the teacher.

Ahmed 5T

I really liked Victorian Day . It was a new experience for me as a Victorian.In the last couple of weeks we learned about Victorian children so I was not scared about Victorian Day.You gave detention as a Victorian teacher to Thaqib and Arkady for not saying a word in the poem that is also new to me. I like Yameen's costume because he was a Butler and he was dressed very well.

What I like about Victorian Day:

I liked when we wrote with pen and ink.

I liked when we had Victorian and modern P.E.

I liked when we wrote on the slate.

Making a thruatam

What I don't like about Victorian Day:

I didn't like marching

standing in line with arms to your sides

arms to yourself

no talking

I would like to thank you for your guidence for the preperation of Victorian Day.

Muhammed Alam 5T

What i liked least of all in Victorian day was the rules and how strict the teachers were .

What i liked most about Victorians day was writing with ink pens and weaving .

From YASMINE ELKHOULY 5T