Victorian Life in Sawyers Valley

This term the Year 2/3 class looked at the book called “Victorian Times through children’s eyes” by Anna Ciddor to find out what life might have been like in Sawyers Valley for children in 1889. The children chose which section they wanted to find out more about. They chose the section "Feeling Unwell". The book describes life for children and how they feared getting unwell and how many families had a lot of children because they often lost children to illness.

The Year 2/3s found out that illness was a major problem as the people in 1889 didn't understand how people caught diseases. The class imagined that they could go back in time to warn the people and offer some help. The students created awesome posters with clear messages such as 

• “Don’t throw the sewage on the vegetable patch!” 
• “Keep the windows open!” 
• “Do not share the cups!”

This activity can be done in any school around the state as the living conditions would have been similar to those described in the book. The book is set in Melbourne.

Year 2 Achievement Standard

• Students analyse aspects of daily life to identify how some have changed over recent time while others have remained the same.

Year 3 Achievement Standard

• They identify events and aspects of the past that have significance in the present.