Published at 15:52, Wednesday, 05 March 2008

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SCHOOLCHILDREN from across Cumbria experienced a very merry Victorian Christmas at Cumbria Outdoors over the festive season as they stepped back in time for a three-day residential course.

From the middle of November 2007, pupils from nine schools visited the Cumbria Outdoors Fellside Centre near Caldbeck where a very warm welcome awaited them.

A comfortable drawing room with its roaring fire and a sparkling Christmas tree – with the added attraction of being waited on hand and foot by servants – were just some of the luxuries in store for the pupils.

Then imagine the daily grind of a servants’ life, waiting at the gentry’s tables, up to their elbows in washing up and eating a very different, plain fare in the servants’ hall.

The children who visited the Fellside Centre got the opportunity to play both servants and gentry and were put through their paces by a Victorian housekeeper who was on hand at all times.

The Victorian experience was made as real as possible with everyone, including all the staff, being dressed in the traditional clothes of the period.

But the experience was also an educational one for the children who were involved in the wider history of the

area. They learned about the mills and mines and were taken on a mine tour by a genuine Victorian miner for an exciting underground experience followed by a miners’ lunch of Cornish pasties. They also made authentic Christmas decorations, dressed the tree, ate typical Victorian food and learned the etiquette of the time.

The three-day programme is a truly Victorian experience, where pupils get to feel like they have stepped back in time. The residential course celebrates the best of ‘experiential’ learning, which is tailored to follow the national curriculum through bringing the Victorian period back to life.

Andy Hunter, Head of Centre at Cumbria Outdoors, which is part of Learning Support Services within the county council’s Children’s Services, said: “Because this is a residential experience, the children benefit from a first hand account of Victorian living from the moment they get up in the morning right up until their bedtime – really bringing the period to life in a more exciting way than just sitting in the classroom.”

County councillor Jim Buchanan, who is Cabinet member for Children’s Wellbeing, said: “There are so many more exciting ways to learn than when I was at school, and this is among the best.

“It gives the children an opportunity to really immerse themselves in the period. They will be almost able to feel and smell what Christmas would have been like so many years ago, getting out of the classroom and seeing it ‘for real’ – I envy them!”

The headteacher at Shap Primary School, Lois Whittaker, said the experience had been excellent and the team at Cumbria Outdoors had captured the magical time of the Victorians perfectly. “The children have been here three days and two nights and they have loved every minute of it.”

She went on: “It’s really fantastic how we have managed to do so many activities and learn so many new aspects to Victorian life in such a little amount of time; the children have been on mine walks, taught how to behave as gentry and even taught how to dress as Victorians.

“The success of the residential is thanks to the children however; they have really thrown themselves into the whole experience, dressing up and taking part. They have been studying Victorian history as part of the curriculum and this has been an outstanding finale to end the topic.”

One pupil enthused: “The trip has been brilliant, we have been here for two nights with all our friends and it’s been great fun. The first night we had to dress up as gentry then we swapped roles; I really enjoyed having my friends wait on me and we even had to learn how to talk and behave like Victorians.

“We got to take a look down a real mine which we have been learning about in school so it was good to see it for ourselves. I loved learning about it in school and it has been a great end to our topic; I’d love to come back next year.”

Another pupil explained: “All the activities we have had to complete have been really interesting. I enjoyed dressing the Christmas tree and making our costumes but when it was my turn to be a servant we had to take orders from the housekeeper, Mrs Eccles, who was really mean.

“I have really enjoyed spending Christmas time with my friends and going on the walks; it’s been a perfect end to what we’ve been learning at school. I definitely want to come back and think other school children should come to the centre and do it also.”

In November 2006 the Government launched the ‘Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto’, which sets out specific measures to help schools widen access to high quality education experiences for every young person and making learning outside the classroom an integral part of school life.

Cumbria Outdoors has recently signed a ‘pledge’ to support the manifesto and this Victorian residential course is just one of the ways they help children to learn outside the classroom.

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk