Child labour!
Our last topic lesson explored the themes of child labour in the Victorian era, before the children got into character to write a diary entry as a child labourer in a coal mine...
Although historically inaccurate, as the poor, working-class children of the Victorian era were extremely unlikely to be able to read or write - or even own pen and paper, we overlooked this to allow the pupils to display their knowledge of the jobs these children undertook and express their empathy. The result was brilliant, with most of the class producing wonderfully-constructed diary entries detailing the tasks, dangers and live experiences of Victorian child labourers!