By Iona Budis and Kareena Ghosh

In the Victorian times before the Ragged School came, you had to pay to go to school. This often meant that poor children couldn’t go to school. At school children never did P.E or music. They usually focused on the three R’s (arithmetic, reading and writing). Once every week they did history, geography and singing. The girls also learnt how to sew.

Teachers in the Victorian times were very strict, the children daren’t speak in class. The children had to sit in rows and every week they had to recite eight lines of poetry. Children that got things wrong had to wear the Dunce’s hat to show that they could not understand something. Children got whipped or hit regularly if they were bad. Another punishment was writing lines.

In Victorian times they didn’t use paper because it was too expensive. Instead they used slates and slate pencils. When you got older you were taught to use paper and quills. The teachers didn’t have electricity. Instead they used blackboards and chalk. The children sat at long wooden benches or desks with little holes for ink pots. At school children went home for their dinner or brought food if they lived far away.

Victorian children had fewer toys than we have today. Poor children hardly had any toys. They would often make their own such as wooden or paper planes and the girls would make ragdolls. Children also played outside a lot. They played games like hopscotch, tig and poohsticks. For Christmas they got things like one penny dolls, spinning tops and marbles.

Rich children had up to date clothes, expensive toys and fancy shoes. They also had pets such as ponies and horses. Wealthy children also enjoyed watching pantomimes and plays at the theatre. The children had books such as Black Beauty, The Jungle Book, Treasure Island and The Water Babies. Girls had expensive dolls with china faces and real hair.

Ragged Schools were schools for poor children and orphans who couldn’t afford to go to a real school. These schools were free and they were started by someone called Dr. Barnardo who wanted poor children to get an education. Dr. Barnardo’s charity is still running today and they are still helping children who are in need.

Some wealthy children were so rich that they hired governess’ or nannies to home school them. They were taught at home until they were ten years of age and then they went to boarding school. Even girls who could afford an education were told to stay at home and learn to read, write, sew and draw.

Popular games for the rich and poor were marbles, hopscotch, hide and seek and lots of other things. Poor children were given a lot of freedom and roamed outside by themselves. Rich children had to stay inside and play games like chess and drafts so they wouldn’t ruin their clothes. Rich children also read a lot of books in their spare time. Poor children didn’t have a lot of books and couldn’t read well.