The unit explores the lives of families living in a colliery village in north-east England at the end of the Victorian period and could form part of a study of Victorian childhood or an investigation into the impact of changes in work on the lives of children. Pupils investigate characteristic features of daily life including school, home and leisure, using a range of sources from Woodhorn Museum & Northumberland Archives and the internet. Click on Teacher’s Notes for a scheme of work, lesson plans and transcripts, and Pupils for questions and source materials.
Teacher’s Notes
This learning resource was developed in partnership with the History Department at Guidepost Middle School in Northumberland in 2008-9, as a series of lessons for Year 6 pupils, studying the Victorian period in Key Stage 2. It was a Learning Links project funded by Museums Libraries and Archives (MLA).
The unit explores the lives of families living in a colliery village in north-east England at the end of the Victorian period and could form part of a study of Victorian childhood or as an investigation into the impact of changes in work on the lives of children. Pupils investigate characteristic features of daily life including school, home and leisure, using a range of sources from Northumberland Collections Service at Woodhorn and the internet. Three topics are covered:
Who lived in Ashington in 1900?
How did Ashington change between 1890 and 1900?
What was life like for children in Ashington c.1900?
Click on the links below for:
Activities for Pupils
Lesson 1 – Census
What can we find out from the census?
Lessons 2 & 3 – Maps
How did Ashington change between 1890 and 1920?
Lesson 4 – Photographs
What was life like for children in Ashington in 1900?
Lesson 5 – Diary
Write a diary for a child living in Ashington in 1900.