Year One had a fantastic time at Beamish this week and luckily, the weather remained dry. The children were thrilled to be going on a coach at last and after an immensely exciting bus journey, we arrived at Beamish. We tried to visit as many places at Beamish as possible. The children visited the farm and looked around the farmhouse.
We also visited the Victorian school room. It was so different to our school. The children had to line up in a separate line for boys and girls and we had to call the teacher “Ma’am” at all times. We went inside the classroom and sat on wooden benches. The children completed activities in reading, writing and arithmetic. They began by working out some maths stories and writing some sounds on their slates with chalk. Then the children read words from a chalkboard to the teacher. We even had a go at learning a poem. After this, the children had a go at sketching a mallard and were able to take these pictures home. The teacher was very strict and insisted that everyone should work in silence. Some of us also had the chance to play with the hoops and sticks on the playground.
One of our activities was to clean a pit cottage. We met a lady who lived there and she told us all about how hard she works to keep her cottage looking immaculate. Did you know that she washes her clothes in a tub with a postick and grates in carbolic soap for washing powder? Victorian’s even used a chamber pot under their bed if they needed to go to the toilet in the night.
We even had time to visit the Victorian town. We visited the drapery and the food store, the sweet shop, the bakery and the bank.
By the end of the day we were all exhausted but we had so much fun! It was just wonderful to see the smiles and hear laughing and chatter all day. The children were respectful and polite at all times and brilliantly behaved. They represented the school so well with members of the public around. Thanks also to the parent helpers who supported on the day.
In the pit cottage, we noticed some toys that Victorian children used to play with. Back at school we learnt more about toys from the past and made our version of a cup and ball. We had great fun playing with them.
