Year 5 recently visited Kent Life as part of their Victorians topic. The girls looked fantastic dressed in their costumes ranging from Victorian maids to chimney sweeps. On the day they were greeted by a Victorian school master and had the opportunity to take part in a lesson in a replica Victorian classroom. This involved learning to add up in ‘old money’ and learning ‘by rote’.
Once class was finished, the girls went to the nearby hall and met with a scullery maid. The maid described the various roles within the household during Victorian times and demonstrated some of the techniques and machinery used for laundry. The girls were able to go up and try this out for themselves and appeared to enjoy using the mangle the most!
After a lovely lunch in sunshine, we were met by the Lord of the house who preceded to tell the girls all about how he came to own a large house with staff and some of the girls were even trained to be footmen. They also learned about children working in the coal mines and as street sellers and were shocked to hear that at their age they would have been sent out to work in Victorian times.
The day ended with a walk around to visit the various animals on site and a quick visit to the playground. Year 5 had a wonderful, educational Victorian day at Kent Life.
