Learning activities

Starter activities

Starter activity Sa (Links to all main activities apart from Ma)

Discuss: Why do people visit the beaches in South East England? What do they do there? What do they expect to see? Why do people still come to the beaches in West Sussex? Explain that in Victorian times, the West Sussex coast was an important holiday destination. Ask children how we could find out about Victorian Sussex. What sources could we use?

Starter activity Sb (Links to any main activity)

Independent activity to be completed by the children prior to the lesson - Ask your family where they went on their honeymoon/first holiday together. Plot the place (using a map on Interactive whiteboard or using coloured pins) on a world map. Where did most people go on holiday? Add in another colour/different colour pins the places where the children last went on holiday. What do you notice? It's most likely that the children have ventured further afield than their parents' honeymoon/first holiday. What is the reason for this? Explain that, in Victorian times, most people did not go far for their holidays and that the Sussex coast was a major holiday destination.

Starter activity Sc (Links to any main activity but particularly to Ma and Md)

Use guide books (these would need to be sourced prior to the lesson - contact local libraries, tourist offices, bookshops, and so on.) and children to research 'Why do people come to the Sussex coast' or 'Why do people come to your local town or area for a holiday today and what attractions are there'?

Starter activity Sd (Links to any main activity but particularly to Mc)

Look at a collection of local modern postcards (these would need to be sourced prior to the lesson). What information can be gained from looking at these both in terms of pictorial and written information? Compare to Victorian picture sources of West Sussex (local views could be sourced from West Sussex Past Pictures website http://www.westsussexpast.org.uk/). What are the differences? What did people do?

Main activities

Main activity Ma (Links to any starter, except Sa, and to any plenary activity)

Children to design a questionnaire, and go into town and interview visitors to find out why they have come to visit. Example questions could be about what people think of the town/locality. What have they enjoyed doing? Why did they choose to come here? Is this their first visit? Once back in class, children to compare tourists' responses to the sources and identify reasons why Victorian holidaymakers came to the Sussex coast, and the types of things that they did. Information could be presented in a simple chart.

Main activity Mb (Links to any starter and plenary activity)

Children to complete activity sheets independently or in groups, either on paper copies using the sources or on computer.

Main activity Mc (Links to any starter and plenary activity)

Study the sources in groups. Give children a copy of a picture of Victorian Sussex. (Local views could be sourced from West Sussex Past Pictures website http://www.westsussexpast.org.uk/). Explain that this is the front of a postcard. The children are to think about what they may have done if they had visited West Sussex as a Victorian. Fill in the back of the postcard to describe what you did on your holiday. More able children could try to emulate the language drawn from the sources. Less able children could design their own postcard picture to depict the Victorian scene. Share postcards at the end.

Main activity Md (Links to any starter and plenary activity)

Study the sources in groups. Write an advert/poster 'Come to the Sussex Seaside/Your Town'. Use Source 17 for ideas on fonts. Children to design a poster using ICT to attract visitors to West Sussex. Children will need to think about choice of fonts, language and the pictures that they use - these can be drawn from the website or children could find their own.

Plenary activities

Plenary activity Pa (Links to any starter and main activity)

Discuss why West Sussex/the West Sussex coast is not as popular a holiday destination now as in the Victorian era.

Plenary activity Pb (Links to any starter and main activity)

Sort a series of statements showing reasons why people go on holiday today and in Victorian times, for example, I go on holiday to get a sun tan, I go on holiday to get fresh air, I go on holiday to play, I go on holiday to rest, and such like. Discuss that people still go on holiday to West Sussex but it is less common. Why?

Plenary activity Pc (Links to any starter and main activity)

Draw a table on the board with a heading and two columns: 'West Sussex - then and now'. Children to offer suggestions for bullet points to go in each column.