Leeds pupils step back in time to experience life in a Victorian classroom

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A group of Leeds school pupils turned time travellers this week when they got an authentic lesson in Victorian life at Leeds Industrial Museum.

The museum’s unique schoolroom, which replicates the feel of what school was like for children more than a century ago, welcomed pupils from Manor Wood School, who were the first group to head back to class there since the site closed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

The schoolroom has been a popular trip for generations of the city’s young people and comes equipped with rigid wooden desks, writing slates, inkwells and a vintage piano used for music lessons.

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Leeds Museums and Galleries' learning and access officer Coullin Meikle even steps into the role of a stern Victorian schoolmaster, putting pupils through their academic paces and running them through an old school PE drill in the schoolyard.

Pupils from Manor Wood Primary School take part in Victorian classroom lessons at Leeds Industrial Museum. Picture : Jonathan GawthorpePupils from Manor Wood Primary School take part in Victorian classroom lessons at Leeds Industrial Museum. Picture : Jonathan Gawthorpe
Pupils from Manor Wood Primary School take part in Victorian classroom lessons at Leeds Industrial Museum. Picture : Jonathan Gawthorpe

He said: “The classroom is a true Leeds institution that’s inspired generations of young people and there are countless adults out there all across the city who still remember their own visit.

"Children absolutely love seeing what life was like for their Victorian counterparts and getting a first-hand insight into how much school has changed since the introduction of board schools in the 1870s.

“It’s all great fun, but also a fantastic and immersive learning experience that they can take away and apply to their lessons at their own school.

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