KS2 visit to the Victorian School in Appledore. Here is a report by Connor and Danny in year 5. The Victorian School is a part of the Maritime museum so we stopped there first to put our coats and lunchboxes safely away until later. We met the Headmistress who was called Mrs Cox. When we went into the school house we had to change into Victorian clothes; the girls in pinafores and the boys in collars and waistcoats. The clothes made us look the part and Danny felt like he had travelled back in time.
What subjects did the students learn? Not all Victorian children went to school for a formal education. Some children used to go to Sunday schools which were run by churches. Rich children were lucky as compared to poor children.
Although there had been schools dated back as far as the 6th Century many Victorian boys and girls did not have the opportunity of going to school. When Queen Victoria came to the throne in education was still mainly for the privileged. Rich children might have a governess to teach them at home until they were old enough — if they were boys — to go to Public Schools such as Rugby mentioned in the book, Tom Brown's Schooldays.
It was not compulsory for children to go to school before During the early Victorian period it tended to be only the children of wealthy families that went to school or that were taught at home by a governess. Some children from poorer families would attend Sunday schools where they would learn very basis skills but most would have had to earn money to help support their family. In a law was passed that led to the setting up of 'Board Schools' in each area for children between the ages of 5 and