What Was Life Like in the Workhouses?

This lesson contains:

• A discussion as a starter to talk about what the government does to help poor or homeless people today.
• A discussion of why there was so much poverty in Britain in the 19th Century. Students produce a mind map.
• A background of the Old Poor Laws and then the New Poor Law and the goals of the law.
• A discussion of the layout of a typical workhouse for students to analyse.
• An overview of the jobs people performed at the workhouse with a video from YouTube showing some examples.
• An activity for students to study a series of sources in groups and draw out info about life in the workhouses: food, discipline, rules, health and education.
• A plenary to write a short letter to a local minister with reasons why workhouses should be closed, using the info from the main activity.

Attachments:

• 1 x Powerpoint Presentation
• 1 x Publisher File
• 1 x Word File