Year One had a fantastic time at Beamish this week and luckily, the sun was shining. The children were thrilled to be going on a coach at last and after an immensely exciting bus journey, we arrived at Beamish. We tried to visit as many places at Beamish as possible. The children enjoyed the farm. We saw horses, ducks, turkeys and an enormous sleeping pig. We talked about the allotment and the different plants we saw growing.
We also visited the Victorian school room. It was so different to our school. The children had to line up in a separate line for boys and girls and we had to call the teacher “Miss” at all times. We played “What’s the Time Mr Wolf” in the playground first and then we went inside the classroom. Everyone had to sit on wooden benches and read words from a chalkboard to the teacher. We even had a go at writing them down. The teacher was very strict and insisted that everyone should work in silence.
One of our activities was to clean a pit cottage. We met Christine who lived there and she told us all about how hard she works to keep her cottage looking immaculate. Did you know that she washes her clothes in a tub with a poss-stick and grates in carbolic soap for washing powder? Victorian’s even used a chamber pot under their bed if they needed to go to the toilet in the night.
We even had time to visit the Victorian town. We visited the drapery and the food store, the sweet shop, the bakery and the bank.
By the end of the day we were all exhausted but we had so much fun! It was just wonderful to see the smiles and hear laughing and chatter all day. The children were respectful and polite at all times and brilliantly behaved. They represented the school so well with members of the public around. Thanks also to the parent helpers who supported on the day.
Article 28 – We all have the right to a good quality education.
