On Tuesday, year 2 spent the day at the Ragged School Museum to support their ongoing study of Victorian life. The focus for the visit was finding out what school life would have been like for a Victorian child. The school room in which the girls spent time was recreated to mirror what would have been found in one of Dr Barnardo’s, the great social reformer who, newly arrived from Dublin, set up his free school for poor children in the East End of London. The classroom was equipped with authentic and well-used school desks, slate writing boards and chalks, blackboards and easels and even dunce hats. The experience was made all the authentic by a meeting with a Victorian teacher who thought nothing of giving out the dunce cap, punishing disobedience with a caning and shouting insults at children who gave incorrect responses to the questions she asked. It was a relief to return to the Y2 classroom at Prep School and the far more friendly Dojo class system!

On Friday year 2 went on to share what they learned on the trip through a amusing role play as part of their assembly to parents. They also went on the re-enact elements of the Suffragette fight and dazzled the audience with two lively and empowering songs about standing tall and being ambitious.