Supports QCA Unit 2 & 12 and the Victorians section in the National Curriculum. The session lasts for 1 ½ hours and is suitable for one KS2 class; shorter sessions can be adapted for KS1

Organisation

During the session the class will work in four groups to tackle a range of activities; please organise these groups before arrival so that we can start immediately. When doing group work, the Interpreter Demonstrator will oversee the session but your own teachers and adult helpers will lead each individual group. If possible, it is useful for the Interpreter Demonstrator if your pupils are wearing name stickers.

Objectives

• To find out more about Victorian life in the Basingstoke area using a range of resources including original objects and photographs.
• To understand aspects of Victorian daily life from handling a range of museum objects relating to the period.
• To appreciate the differences in the lives of rich and poor people living in Victorian times.
• For pupils to comprehend how different our lives are today.

Outline

Introduction

Welcome to the Willis Museum: an introduction to the Museum, which was the Victorian Town Hall, and an explanation of today’s session

Activities

The class will now split into four groups so that they can all take part in four different activities in turn:

• Mystery Object
  a series of original objects from home, school and working life to be handled, examined and discussed. The Interpreter Demonstrator will lead this session and will help the children identify what the objects are.
• Then and Now
  a series of original objects has to be matched to images of the modern day equivalent, leading to a discussion within the group about how things have changed. Notes will be provided for the teacher or adult helper to lead this session.
• Victorian Basingstoke
  children will be given a collection of photographs of Victorian Basingstoke together with some captions and questions that will help them to look closely at the images and consider how life has changed.
• Gallery Visit
  an opportunity to visit the Victorian parlour and kitchen in our gallery to get an insight into Victorian homes and to draw and label objects of their choice to take back to the classroom.

Conclusion

The class comes back together to discuss what they have discovered throughout the session and to identify some key changes in daily life since Victorian times.

You will be visiting the Willis Museum for 1 ½ hours to support the delivery of a session called “Basingstoke’s Victorian Past”. The session has been devised and developed especially for Key Stage 2 pupils. You will be leading a small group of pupils as they try a range of activities in the museum; an Interpreter-Demonstrator will oversee the session and support you.

On arrival the Interpreter-Demonstrator will meet you and introduce you to the museum and give you a brief introduction to the activities you will be involved in. The class will then divide into the four, pre-arranged groups and you will stay with one of these groups to assist them as they tackle the four activities in turn.

Each activity has an instruction card and, where appropriate, additional information to help you guide the children through the activity. This additional information should not be read out to the group, as the challenge for them is to discover the answers for themselves, but you may find it useful in order to steer the activity.

The activities each last for approximately 15 minutes and are:

• Mystery Object
  a series of original objects from home, school and working life to be handled, examined and discussed. The Interpreter Demonstrator will lead this session and will help the children identify what the objects are.
• Then and Now
  a series of original objects has to be matched to images of the modern day equivalent, leading to a discussion within the group about how things have changed. Notes will be provided for the teacher or adult helper to lead this session.
• Victorian Basingstoke
  children will be given a collection of photographs of Victorian Basingstoke together with some captions and questions that will help them to look closely at the images and consider how life has changed. This activity is about observation and has no ‘right or wrong’ answers.
• Gallery Visit
  an opportunity to visit the Victorian parlour and kitchen in our gallery to get an insight into Victorian homes. You will be asked to get the children to look for things they do recognise and things they don’t and then to chose their favourite or most interesting object to draw and label.

At the end of the session, the class will be brought back together so that the children have a chance to share their learning with the rest of the class.

The session will take place in the gallery on the second floor of the museum, with access by two flights of stairs. A stair lift is available for anyone with mobility issues. The toilets are on the first floor and children must be accompanied. The Victorian parlour and kitchen are in the first floor gallery.

Pre visit activities

• Ask children to think about the role of a museum
• Make a timeline from the Victorian period
• Ask the class if they know of any buildings which might be Victorian in Basingstoke

Post visit activities

• Ask children to make a drawing of the objects seen in the session and make a display of the drawings in your classroom
• Discuss in the classroom the main differences between Victorian time and modern day