Strict discipline teaches Steyning children a lesson about Victorian times
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The year-six Victorian Day on Friday included a Latin spelling test, manual labour, checks for cleanliness and even the cane.
The children found it tremendous fun, though the teachers remained in their strict Victorian roles all day.
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Hide AdHaidee Boyt, 11, said: “It is different to anything else and it is really fun.”
She chose to dress as a chimney sweep and said she had been ‘up cleaning chimneys’ before school started.
Mio Andersson, 10, was one of the children who was made to use the right hand for writing, despite being left-handed.
He said: “My grandpa was left-handed and he had his hand slapped with a ruler, so he can write with both hands now.
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Hide Ad“You can’t slouch, you can’t fidget and you can’t talk, otherwise you get caned.”
Head teacher Sue Harrsion gathered the children in the hall at the start of the day and spoke about the Bible.
Miss Lizzie Messina-Reeve, upper key stage two team leader and year-six teacher, said: “She was 100 per cent in role! She disciplined the children as necessary, said The Lord’s Prayer and we sang All Things Bright and Beautiful.
“We then came back to class but the children were not allowed in until they were deemed clean enough. They were dressed for the occasion and were ready to check their hands and nails for cleanliness and that their hair was neat.”
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Hide AdGirls and boys sat separately all day, with their Victorian names written on a chalkboard in front of them.
Luukas Glass, 10, said: “We have to write a letter about being a child in the Victorian times and that is really going to help us remember.”
Lessons included numeracy, a Latin spelling test and learning about the British Empire.
Miss Messina-Reeve said: “Our 11-year-old boys left us for part of the day to do some manual labour, followed by a snack of ‘beef dripping’, bread and cress.
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Hide Ad“We shared bread and jam as our snack before lunch. At playtime, they were given skipping ropes and hoops to play with.”
In the afternoon, the boys were given drill practice while the girls did sewing and learned how to fold material and sort household goods, then the girls played tennis while the boys did woodwork, making a square frame for the girls’ sewing.
Miss Messina-Reeve said: “We tried to keep to Victorian disciplines as much as possible. Some children were made to wear the dunce’s cap, as well as others being sent to stand in the corner, face the wall, and some even suffered the wrath of the ‘cane’.
“It was an amazing day, where everyone involved dressed for the occasion and enjoyed the day.”