Home Learning: Child Labour

Subject: History | Year: 8

Estimated Time: 30-40 Minutes Name: _________________________ Class/Set: ____________ Due Date: ____________

The Purpose

Why are we doing this? To consolidate your understanding of the Victorian Industrial Revolution by analysing how the dangerous working conditions in factories and mines led to the first significant legal protections for children.

Instructions

1. Identify: In your exercise book, create a list of three specific dangers faced by 'scavengers' or 'piecers' in Victorian textile mills. For each danger, write one sentence explaining the physical impact it had on the child.

2. Analyse: Review the table below showing key pieces of legislation. In your exercise book, explain which law you think was the most important for improving children's lives and provide one reason why.

Legislation	Key Provisions
1833 Factory Act	No children under 9 to work; ages 9-13 limited to 9 hours a day.
1842 Mines Act	Prohibited all females and boys under 10 from working underground.
1844 Factory Act	Ages 8-13 limited to 6.5 hours; compulsory 3 hours of schooling.

3. Compose: Write a PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link) paragraph answering the following question: "How far did the Factory Act of 1833 change the lives of Victorian children?"

Success Criteria (Checklist)

• ☐ I have identified three specific dangers in the mills and explained their physical impact.
• ☐ I have selected the most important law and justified my choice with a reason.
• ☐ I have written a PEEL paragraph that uses specific evidence (e.g., hours worked or ages).
• ☐ I have used Tier 3 subject vocabulary such as 'legislation', 'reform', and 'provisions'.

Challenge / Extension (Optional)

• Research: Find out who Lord Shaftesbury was. Write two sentences explaining his role in the 'Ten Hours Movement' and why he was a significant figure in Victorian reform.

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⚠ TEACHER’S GUIDANCE & MARK SCHEME (DO NOT PRINT FOR STUDENTS)

💡 Pedagogical Landing

• Historical Empathy vs. Analysis: Year 8 students often focus on the "cruelty" of the era. Encourage them to move beyond emotive language and focus on the causality between industrial accidents and the resulting legislation.
• Scaffolding the PEEL: For lower-ability students, suggest they start their paragraph with: "One way the 1833 Factory Act changed lives was by..."
• Literacy Focus: Ensure students understand that 'provisions' in a legal sense refers to the specific rules within a law, not food or supplies.

Teacher’s Post-Task Briefing

1. Model Answers / Expected Outcomes

• Task 1 Answer (Identify):

  • Scavengers: Crawling under moving machinery to pick up loose cotton. Risk: Crushed limbs or hair getting caught.
  • Piecers: Leaning over spinning frames to tie broken threads. Risk: Loss of fingers or respiratory issues from inhaling "flue" (dust).
  • General: Deafening noise leading to long-term hearing loss.

• Task 2 Answer (Analyse):

  • Students may argue the 1833 Act was most important as it introduced inspectors to enforce the rules, or the 1844 Act for introducing compulsory schooling, which shifted the child's role from worker to learner.

• Task 3 Answer (Compose):

  • Point: The 1833 Factory Act was a significant turning point in Victorian society.
  • Evidence: It banned children under 9 from working and limited 9-13 year olds to 48 hours per week. Crucially, it appointed four inspectors for the whole country.
  • Explanation: This meant that for the first time, the government (Parliament) was taking responsibility for child welfare, though the small number of inspectors made enforcement difficult.
  • Link: Therefore, while conditions remained harsh, the Act established the principle that the law could protect children in the workplace.

2. Common Misconceptions to Flag

• Instant Change: Students often assume that as soon as a law was passed, child labour stopped. Remind them that many factory owners ignored the laws because there were so few inspectors.
• The "Mean" Parents: Some students believe parents were simply cruel. Clarify that many families lived in such extreme poverty that they felt they had no choice but to send their children to work to avoid the workhouse.

3. Classroom Discussion Starters (The 'Journey')

• If the 1833 Act only had four inspectors for the entire country, how effective do you think it really was in the first year?
• Why do you think the 1844 Act included "3 hours of schooling"? What does this tell us about how the government's view of children was changing?