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Year 8

Education for poor Victorian children

I can explain how emotive language is used to discuss poverty in Victorian Britain.

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New
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Year 8

Education for poor Victorian children

I can explain how emotive language is used to discuss poverty in Victorian Britain.

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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. There was no compulsory schooling in Victorian Britain.
  2. Education was a luxury only the rich could afford.
  3. Ragged schools were designed to provide education to the poorest in society.
  4. When analysing a writer's language choices, topic sentences should focus on effect rather than subject terminology.
  5. Topic sentences which focus on effect give opportunity to make connections between quotations from across a text.

Keywords

  • Correlation - if two things have a mutual relationship or connection, they are are said to have a correlation.

  • Illiteracy - illiteracy means being unable, or struggling, to read and write.

  • Destitute - destitute means extremely poor and unable to look after oneself.

  • Plea - a plea is a request made in an urgent or emotional manner.

  • Ragged schools - ragged schools were schools which provided education to children who were too poor to receive it elsewhere.

Common misconception

Identifying language devices is the most important skill when analysing author's language choices.

When looking at the question, ask pupils whether 'Guthrie uses a simile' would be an appropriate response to the question. If not, why not?


To help you plan your year 8 english lesson on: Education for poor Victorian children, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

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Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
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Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Select two words below that you most associate with the Victorian working class.
Correct answer: Poverty
Opportunity
Freedom
Correct answer: Mistreated
Q2.
A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun. Which word in this sentence is a pronoun? 'The boy ate some dinner. He only had a small plate of food.'
Correct Answer: He, he
Q3.
Which of the following is a metaphor?
Their relationship was like the wreckage of a sunken ship.
Their relationship had become as damaged as a shipwreck.
Correct answer: Their relationship had become a shipwreck - damaged beyond repair.
Q4.
Which of the the following is the correct use of the word plea?
Correct answer: She made a plea for someone to help her find her dog.
She plea for help for someone to help her find her dog
She was pleaing for someone to help her find her dog.
Q5.
There are three determiners in the following sentence. Can you name one? 'The boy ate some dinner. He only had a small plate of food.'
Correct Answer: The, some, a, the
Q6.
At the start of Queen Victoria's reign, who had access to education?
Everyone - education was free for all.
Correct answer: Only people who could afford to pay for education.
Education was a privilege reserved for royalty and the ruling classes.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Complete this sentence: at the start of Queen Victoria's reign, education was...
Correct answer: a luxury.
compulsory.
free.
Q2.
What was the purpose of ragged schools?
To keep poor children off the streets.
To make sure the workhouses were not too full.
Correct answer: To offer free and compulsory education to all.
Q3.
Put the following into the most logical order you would expect to see them in an analytical paragraph about an author's language choices.
1 - A topic sentence which focus on the author's effect.
2 - An embedded quotation which supports the topic sentence.
3 - An inference about how the quotation supports the topic sentence.
4 - An additional inference using a second quotation.
Q4.
Complete this sentence: when analysing an author's language choices, your topic sentence should always focus on the of the author's language, rather than mentioning subject terminology.
Correct Answer: effect, effects, Effect, Effects
Q5.
Complete this sentence: in Victorian Britain, there was a high correlation between illiteracy and crime, as a lack of access to education meant...
you would never find a job.
Correct answer: a lack of access to skilled, high-paid work, leading to potential poverty.
a life in poverty, meaning people had to commit crime.
Q6.
Which word means extremely poor and unable to look after oneself?
Correct answer: Destitute
Devastated
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