Kids take a step back in time to mark anniversary

Christ Church CE Primary School, in Keighley Road, was founded in 1841 and throughout the week children have been researching its beginnings and finding out what school life might have been like for students in the 19th century.

On Wednesday, the pupils and staff dressed up in traditional Victorian dress and some children even came along as chimney sweepers for their lessons with a Victorian teacher complete with a cane and dunce hat.

Stephanie Tilsley, history leader and year three teacher, said that the week was a great way for the children to learn about the school's past.

She said: "The children loved the dressing up and I think in particular the Victorian teacher coming in from the Lancashire Museum Service went down really well.

"Some of the students even said that they wanted to keep the desks in rows facing the front they enjoyed it that much."

Mrs Tilsley said that she dug through the school's archives and constructed a play based on it history which the children acted out at a church service yesterday (Friday).

She said: "I found all the school's old log books and from this I planned out a way to teach it to the children.

"I decided to write it out as a play that the children could act out and it's been a really great way for them to learn about our founder William Hodgson, who was Patrick Bronte's curate, and other aspects of the history."

Headteacher Andrew Peers said that the events had been extremely successful, in particular the fancy dress, where he said everyone put in a lot of effort.

He said: "It's been a wonderful week and the kids really loved dressing up.

"It's been a great learning opportunity with the Victorian teacher coming in and Mrs Tilsley really did put in so much effort to get this organised so I want to thank her.

"We have a very interesting history here and we have been able to draw some parallels between our experiences now and what was going on then."