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History: History Clips Victorians
listenListen to an extract from the series Age 9 - 11
20 mins
A tough life for Victorian children in coal mines
Complete Teacher's Notes

What was it actually like to be a child miner in the 1840s...or a chimney sweep...or a homeless child? How did Bell discover the telephone...or Edison the phonograph...
...what was it like for Mary Seacole at the Crimea...or for Dr David Livingstone navigating the Zambezi?

This new series comprises short dramas exploring the key history topic 'The Victorians'. In the first five programmes there is an emphasis on the lives of children, with powerful first-hand testimonies. The second five programmes link to well-known Victorian figures, exploring themes like the coming of the railways, engineering achievements and inventions.  

The series is designed to offer a flexible resource. Each of the short dramas is stand alone but may also be used as part of a sequence - allowing you to pick and choose the content that is most relevant to your study of this fascinating subject.

Autumn 2008

Curriculum links
Links to History: The Victorians. These short dramas are designed to offer evidence of what life was like for a range of people in Victorian times. Many of the themes and subjects link directly to the programmes of study indicated in the QCA Schemes of work for History. Links to equivalent levels for History in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Programmes also link to English - particularly factual writing. Also opportunties to link to PSHE and Citizenship through the many personal testimonies included.
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Teacher's Notes as PDF files to print


DocumentComplete Teacher's Notes

Document1. The trapper

Document2. Street life 

Document3. Up the chimneys 

Document4. The maid's tale 

Document5. A comfortable life? 

Document6. The railways 

Document7. Inventions

Document8. Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Document9. Mary Seacole

Document10. Dr David Livingstone

See also
BBC World Class

BBC World Class
Find out more about school twinning




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