Victorian School Experience Day Workshop
Classroom Adventures
Stand up straight. Hands behind your back. Silence.Welcome to the Victorian classroom.
In this immersive experience day, you are stepping back over 150 years into a world where school is strict, serious, and very different from the one you know today. We take over one of your classrooms and transform it into a 19th-century schoolroom, where every child must learn the rules - and learn them quickly.
You will be issued with your very own copybook, and with it comes great responsibility. Using a dip pen and ink, you will practise your handwriting with care and precision. Be warned: a blot on your copybook is a blot on your life! In Victorian Britain, your copybook could one day act as your CV, helping you secure better work, better pay, and a better future.
Lessons begin with the Three R's: Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic. You will practise reading aloud and pronunciation through vocal exercises, just as Victorian grammarians believed language should be taught - strictly, formally, and often with reference to Latin grammar.
Numbers are just as important. You'll learn to work with imperial measurements and Victorian currency, completing calculations on slates using slate pencils. No calculators. No erasers. Just careful thought and concentration.
Religion plays a central role in daily life, so throughout the session you will encounter contemporary prayers, hymns, and moral instruction, helping you understand the values Victorian society expected children to absorb from a very young age.
Above all, Victorian education was about knowing your place. Order, obedience, and discipline mattered greatly - and children will discover this very early on in the session.
How will your pupils cope with the Victorian education system?
We look forward to visiting you to find out.
Where we travel to
We can visit your school in:
What activities are available during this school workshop?
Our Victorian School Experience Day is a structured, immersive workshop that allows pupils to experience first-hand what education was like in the 19th century, while encouraging comparison with their own lives today.
Activities typically include:
- Entering a Victorian classroom
Pupils take their places in a recreated Victorian schoolroom and learn the expectations, routines, and discipline of the period.
- Copybooks and handwriting
Using dip pens and ink, pupils practise handwriting in copybooks, discovering why neatness, effort, and accuracy mattered so much.
- Reading and pronunciation
Exploring how reading was taught through repetition, vocal exercises, and strict grammatical rules.
- Arithmetic with slates
Completing calculations using slate boards while learning imperial measurements and historical currency.
- Religion and moral instruction
Understanding the role of prayers, hymns, and moral teaching in shaping Victorian education and values.
- Discipline and punishment
Examining the rules of the classroom and discussing the punishments used in Victorian schools, and how attitudes to children have changed.
- Comparing past and present
Reflecting throughout the session on how Victorian schooling differs from education today.
Activities typically include:
- Entering a Victorian classroom
Pupils take their places in a recreated Victorian schoolroom and learn the expectations, routines, and discipline of the period.
- Copybooks and handwriting
Using dip pens and ink, pupils practise handwriting in copybooks, discovering why neatness, effort, and accuracy mattered so much.
- Reading and pronunciation
Exploring how reading was taught through repetition, vocal exercises, and strict grammatical rules.
- Arithmetic with slates
Completing calculations using slate boards while learning imperial measurements and historical currency.
- Religion and moral instruction
Understanding the role of prayers, hymns, and moral teaching in shaping Victorian education and values.
- Discipline and punishment
Examining the rules of the classroom and discussing the punishments used in Victorian schools, and how attitudes to children have changed.
- Comparing past and present
Reflecting throughout the session on how Victorian schooling differs from education today.
Which curriculum topics do we cater for?
Victorian Workshop
Childhood and Schools
In our Victorian School Experience Day your pupils will step back in time, into a Victorian Classroom where they will roleplay a class of children from 150 years ago.
They will meet a very strict and stern teacher who expects children to do as they are told, and not speak unless spoken to.
There will be lots to study throughout the session as children will cover the 3 R's, whilst using dip pens and slates.
At the end of the session the children can discuss how they found the experience, comparing it to the present day.
What size groups do we cater for?
Our Victorian School Experience Day is suitable for mainstream KS2 classes, from single-form entry to four-form entry (approximately 30-120 pupils).
This experience works slightly differently from our other history days:
- One class may take part for a full day, or
- Multiple classes may rotate through the experience (e.g. 4 × 1-hour sessions)
We can accommodate a wide range of group sizes, provided there is:
- a clear classroom with sufficient desks or tables for pupils
- appropriate staffing to remain with pupils throughout the experience
This experience works slightly differently from our other history days:
- One class may take part for a full day, or
- Multiple classes may rotate through the experience (e.g. 4 × 1-hour sessions)
We can accommodate a wide range of group sizes, provided there is:
- a clear classroom with sufficient desks or tables for pupils
- appropriate staffing to remain with pupils throughout the experience
Access for visitors with disabilities
Our days are aimed to be fun and engaging for all.
Our only requirement is that you/your organisation provide the relevant staffing and equipment needed to facilitate any individual's participation.
Our only requirement is that you/your organisation provide the relevant staffing and equipment needed to facilitate any individual's participation.
Visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Our days are aimed to be fun and engaging for all. Our only requirement is that you/your organisation provide the relevant staffing and equipment needed to facilitate any individual's participation. You must also be aware that we will be bringing various props and equipment with us that are integral to the content of the day. Many of these can cause injury if used incorrectly. Therefore, safety and safeguarding is of upmost concern and we may not be able to deliver a day if behaviour is dangerous or staffing levels are insufficient.
Anything else?
To deliver a high-quality, immersive Victorian School Experience Day, we require:
- secure on-site parking
- exclusive use of a classroom for the duration of the day
- tables for each child to sit and 1x extra classroom table for the workshop leader
- sufficient staff to remain with pupils throughout the workshop
(These requirements allow us to deliver a safe, structured, and fully immersive experience.)
- secure on-site parking
- exclusive use of a classroom for the duration of the day
- tables for each child to sit and 1x extra classroom table for the workshop leader
- sufficient staff to remain with pupils throughout the workshop
(These requirements allow us to deliver a safe, structured, and fully immersive experience.)
Who are Classroom Adventures?
- Designed for learning, not just entertainment
Every experience day is carefully structured to support KS2 history objectives, encouraging enquiry, discussion, and critical thinking alongside enjoyment.
- Immersive, full-day experiences
We don't deliver short workshops or assemblies. Each visit is a complete day of learning, allowing pupils time to explore ideas in depth and fully engage with the period.
- Led by costumed historical interpreters
Pupils learn from knowledgeable facilitators who bring history to life through storytelling, discussion, and hands-on activities - not scripts or performances.
- Hands-on, object-based learning
Pupils see and handle replica artefacts, tools, weapons, and equipment, helping them make tangible connections with the past.
- Inclusive and adaptable
Our days are designed to be accessible, with flexibility built in to support a wide range of pupils and school settings.
- Clear structure and professional delivery
We work alongside school staff, maintaining high standards of behaviour, safety, and safeguarding throughout the day.
- Experience you can trust
Classroom Adventures' staff have been delivering educational experience days since 2016, working with schools across the UK to provide high-quality, memorable learning.
Subscribe
