On Tuesday 5th December, the Belfast Model School for Girls English Department hosted their very first ‘Dickens Day’, to celebrate the work of Charles Dickens.  All Year 9 students were invited to this exciting event which transported them back in time to experience life and, particularly, Christmas from a Victorian perspective.

Throughout this half term, our Year 9 students have been busy preparing detailed group projects on ‘The Life and Times of Charles Dickens’.  All of the girls have had an opportunity to research some of his famous work, find out interesting historical information about life in Dickensian London and understand how his work is still very influential to us today.  As the girls add the finer details and illustrations to their projects, we thought a celebration of Dickens’s work would be a perfect way to stretch and challenge their learning experience.

Dickens Day offered a range of different Victorian workshops, from creating Victorian Christmas cards, designing authentic Victorian Christmas tree decorations to putting a modern spin on some of our favourite Christmas carols.  All students also got to experience what life would have been like as a pupil in the 19th century and tested their knowledge on their Dickens research.

Our first ever Dickens Day proved to be a huge success with all pupils actively engaged in activities, whilst improving important team building skills with their peers and making links across the Year 9 curriculum.  We hope all students enjoyed the event, celebrating the life of, ‘The man who invented Christmas’.