On Tuesday, our Year 8 pupils had a fantastic day at the Black Country Living Museum, enjoying a day of independent learning at a superb site with so much to explore. Thank you to parents for dropping their children off for an early start to the Black Country Living Museum for a day of independent learning this week. It is a superb museum, and one could spend days there, as there is so much to do and see.
We split into three groups and rotated through a carousel of activities, including a Victorian school lesson where reciting timetables, the alphabet and clean hands and shoes were the order of the day. We also had a ‘metal forming’ workshop and a demonstration of the dangers of methane in the coal mining workshop.
The replica Victorian Town, where Peaky Blinders is filmed, was superb, as our guides toured us through demonstrations of ‘making chain’ and ‘making nail’ and explained that the anchor and chain on the Titanic were made in the Black Country. Chains were incredibly demanding work for males, and nails were made by women and children, with 1000 a day being the expected rate.
Year 8 were a joy to be with, showing off their excellent knowledge of the industrial revolution, engaging brilliantly with the guides and demonstrating their exemplary manners. So lovely when members of the public and the guides go out of their way to compliment them, and they very much wanted to know which school all these lovely children were from. Pupils very much enjoyed the visit to the traditional sweet and cake shops, with the enormous custard creams for sale, and the Victorian fairground of simple pleasures was also a hit.
“I enjoyed this trip very much, and thank you for taking us. My favourite parts were the Victorian school because they had to be very neat, and they would be punished if they were not, and I also liked the sandboards that children used before slate boards, as slate boards were expensive, and then paper and ink. I also enjoyed the Victorian town because of all the colours and older logos.” – Pupil, Sienna B
“Today I enjoyed the Victorian village and its unique shops and other attractions in the village. My favourite part of the day was going to the Victorian funfair, where we went on traditional carousels and flying spinning chairs. Another great stop of the day was the shops where you could buy sweets and cakes! We learnt about how methane in the mines was lethal and how they checked for gas pockets. We saw a great replica of how to check.” – Pupil, Leo M
“My favourite parts of the trip were the coal mine, the Victorian School and going in the old shops and houses.” – Pupil, Molly W
“I really enjoyed the tour of the Victorian town, as I found it very interesting and fun to experience. I also loved the fair and the shops.” – Pupil, Evie O
“What I enjoyed most was the methane experiments, which showed just how explosive it is. The tour guide was an icon and made the experience much funnier, and I also loved the Victorian fairground and the opportunity to see what life would have been like at that time.” – Pupil, Isla A
