A Very Victorian Adventure

Located in a dusty corner of the school, an old diary was found.

The date on it read 1868. The children realised that this was the Victorian Era and decided to research this time in history to understand it better. This is what they found.

Motivated by their challenge, Elder Class went on the

hunt for this mysterious time capsule. Who was

Charlotte? What would be inside the time capsule?

The time capsule was eventually found buried in

the allotment.

Inside were many unusual objects. Two of which

were a piece of coal and a blank family tree.

The children thought the piece of coal could be a clue

to finding a member of Charlotte’s family. There were

many coal mines in the Victorian era.

To understand coal mines and the jobs children would

have had, the children took part in a burn to learn and found

information about various coal mines, the people who worked

in them and their ages.

One of the people they found out about was an

Edward Smith.

The children recognised the family name of Smith and

realised that this must be Charlotte’s father! They had

found their first family member!

In order to help the children understand what life was like as a Victorian coal miner, Elder Class was turned into coal mine! The children imagined travelling down a cramped and rickety mine lift to the bottom of the pit. There, in darkness, the children imagined working life as a Victorian child.

Charlotte's dad found it difficult working down the coal mine. He was not able to see properly because of the poor lighting conditions. To help him, the children learnt all about light and looked at different materials to see which one reflected light the best. Perhaps they could make some strips which could go in the coal mine and reflect light from the candles - making more light!

In order to do this, the children researched different materials to see which one reflected light the best.

This is what they did.