Year 5 step back in time to a Victorian classroom!

 After lunch, we stepped back in time and entered a Victorian classroom. Miss Jackson rang the bell and we were very shocked to see that she had a cane, which we found out was a real Victorian punishment. We had our hands inspected before we entered the classroom and had to wash them in a bowl of water if they were too grubby. Once we were inside, we had to sit in neat rows as we were read out the rules. Unfortunately for the left handed children, everyone was told to write with their right hand and stand before speaking - we couldn't do this without laughing as you can see from the pictures! On our tables, we found a slate and piece of chalk for writing and an abacus to help us with our arithmetic but we had to be careful to not make any mistakes otherwise we were forced to sit in the corner wearing the Dunce cap or even worse, copy out lines. Half way through our lessons, we had to stand up for drill, which mad our mile run seem like a dream!

Luckily, our time in the Victorian classroom didn't last for the whole afternoon but we were inspired to create an advertisement for prospective parents all about our own Victorian schools. As you can see, our Victorian values are very different to those that we have at Benenden today and there is clearly no comparison when it comes to hot school dinners!