Pupils were impressed by the five floors of historic townhouse ('I can't believe he actually lived here!') as well as the rich source material from the author's life that was shown to us. The education team gave our class a fascinating workshop focused on crime and punishment in Victorian London. A key highlight of our visit was seeing the writing desk and equipment that belonged to Charles Dickens as well as his performance copy of Oliver Twist including the gruesome murder of Nancy by Bill Sikes. Pupils asked excellent questions and enhanced their knowledge of context surrounding this influential writer they study in both KS3 and KS4 English.
In the afternoon, pupils prepared well in advance for their roles the mock trial of the Artful Dodger. We were lucky enough to be assigned one of the oldest Victorian courts at the Royal Courts of Courts for this workshop. On trial was the Artful Dodger (Stefi) with order kept in the courtroom by the formidable Judge (Jonathan), the Clerk (Anya) and the Usher (Matin). The Justice Museum team gave praise for the prosecution barrister and their solicitor (Vienna and Mila) who had prepared such well researched and detailed questioning for our confident defendant. After further questioning by the defence team and listening to all the statements of the six witnesses, a verdict was reached. The foreman (Marley) returned the verdict from the jury that the Artful Dodger was indeed not guilty of the crime of stealing a silver snuff box.
Luckily, staff attending did not have to leave any year 7s in the Royal Courts of Justice to be sent to prison. For everyone who attended, it was wonderful to see pupils so engaged with this ambitious and immersive study day. We hope that more year 7s will experience this English trip as it is the first time the department has run it.
