CHILDREN at a St Albans primary school took a step back in time to Victorian Britain today.

Pupils at St Michael's Primary School enjoyed a series of Victorian-themed events as part of the school's Heritage Week.

Teacher at the school in St Michael's Street, Kirstene Cutler, said: "Because St Michael's is a Victorian school, and a great historic building anyway, we've been looking all this week at Victorian life.

"We've had people from the Museum of St Albans coming in to show the younger ones about clothes and implements in the home and what schools would have been like in Victorian times.

"Some of the older ones have been looking at buildings in St Albans then and now, whether some of them still exist and making models.

"The little ones really loved looking at the clothes.

"They just love looking at the things that you would have had in your house in Victorian times and trying to compare that with what we have now. They've been looking at old irons and a Victorian tin bath."

These activities culminated in an exciting afternoon when children and teachers alike dressed up in Victorian costume.

One group re-enacted life in a Victorian classroom, complete with slates, fountain pens, and even a cane and dunce's hat. Pupils from years five and six, aged between nine and ten, acted out two real Court cases from nineteenth century St Albans Magistrates' Court.

Children of all ages then sang music hall songs such as "Daisy, Daisy", played hopscotch and marbles in the playground and put together a display for parents in each classroom.

Mrs Cutler added: "I think it's an opportunity to make history come alive. Just to be in this really historical building and think about what life would have been like in it is a great chance to relive it.

"We've got great access to such a lot of history, and I think history is a fantastic opportunity to get children really interested in different subject areas."