James M reflects on being a Victorian in school

I got really excited about Victorian Day and I woke up at 4.30 and couldn’t go back to sleep! When we went to school, I felt a bit nervous when Mr Watson and Miss Bates first came out, because they looked scary and serious. Mr Watson yelled at some people who were talking in the line and he checked to see if our hands and shoes were clean.


When I first entered the classroom, it was dark and black and I sat down next to Richard at the front which was really the back of the class! The girls were in Miss Bates’ classroom and the boys were in Mr Watson’s room. Mr Whitehead came to the class and he was really scary too. He yelled at Dan and Adam for laughing and being a dunce. I got into trouble for leaving my quill out once and I got shouted at a few times. I also lost my name tag. We weren’t allowed to write with our left hand, so I had to try and use my right hand. My writing was quite good with my right hand.

After recess they gave us mingin gruel. I got given extra because I gave Mr Watson some banana bread, but I didn’t think it was such a good reward. I ate half and then felt like throwing up and so didn’t eat the rest. Richard said it didn’t taste like anything and he ate it all!

We had to do drills and we learnt how to march properly. I quite enjoyed doing that.
Overall, I thought the day was good and fun.