Author: mrslmccracken

P2A Victorian School Trip

Last week Primary 2A visited a Victorian classroom as part of our Victorian School topic.
Here are some things we would like you to know about our trip.

At the Victorian School we met two teachers, Miss Mullin and Miss McDonald. They showed us what happened in a Victorian school.

We had to dress up in Victorian costumes. The girls wore white aprons and the boys wore shirts and waistcoats.

When we heard the bell we knew our Victorian School day had started. The teachers pretended to be strict like Victorian teachers. We went into the Victorian classroom where we had to sit in a girls’ row and a boys’ row.

  • Sitting up straight.
  • Answering questions.
  • Victorian school desks with slates.

They taught us about the three R’s – reading, writing, and arithmetic. It was quite fun, we tried the 2 times table.

We wrote with pen and ink. It was fun but a little tricky and messy!

  • Ready to write on our slates.
  • Slate pens.

  • Trying out pen and ink.










One of our parent helpers was left handed and that wasn’t good in Victorian times. The teacher put her fingers in finger stocks and pretend to tie her left hand behind her back so she couldn’t write with it.

In Victorian times if you were a little bit naughty you would sit on a stool in front of the teacher’s desk.

Sitting in front of the teachers desk.

They showed us the belt (some people called it the strap or the tawse). If someone had been really naughty they were hit on the hand 6 times! They called it “6 of the best”. We thought it would be really sore and we wondered if it might make writing difficult if your hands were stinging. We all thought it would make us feel sad if that happened to us. Thank goodness it doesn’t happen anymore!

  • Being shown the tawse.






After we went to the classroom the teachers showed us some objects that Victorians would have had in their homes. They showed us a range cooker where they would heat water, irons and cook lots of food. We had a go at using a Victorian washing machine and dryer, the dolly and the mangle. We all agreed that it would have been hard work to wash, dry and iron clothes.

  • The dolly for washing clothes.
  • The mangle for drying clothes.
  • A heavy Victorian kettle.
  • The range cooker.
  • Learning about laundry day.

At the end of our visit we played with some Victorian toys and instruments including yo-yos and hoopla. We had a great time on our trip and learned lots about Victorian life and school.

  • Victorian instruments.
  • Victorian games.