What do the children know about life for poor children in Victorian Britain? Have they read or seen a film version of Oliver Twist? Clarify what a workhouse was and explain how children might have ended up in one. At a turning point in Jess's lifethe night before she goes abroad for a yearshe reflects on the key events in her relatives' lives, when they met their mates and married. No mystery accompanies these Continue reading »

AHard to say. Church charities were more alert to the problems of girls on the streets than they were of boys, so they might well have been taken in to an existing Home and possibly put into service when they were older. Later, Barnardo found a way of including girls in his Homes. Otherwise, I think it may have been the workhouse for them. In Far From Home I try to imagine what might have happened to Emily and Lizzie. Approaching his seventeenth birthday Thomas Barnardo experienced 'conversion' (on May 26, 1862). He became a strongly evangelical Christian 'impatient to convert others, urgent for action' (Rose 1987: 24). Barnardo began teaching Bible classes in a Dublin ragged school and became involved in home visiting. His mother and brothers were already members of the Plymouth Bretheren - which Barnardo also joined. He also became a member of the Dublin YMCA - and often gave talks there. His commitment to social work strengthened - and on hearing Hudson Taylor speaking in Dublin about the work of the Inland China Mission, Barnardo believed his future lay in such work. The Brethren provided him with a small allowance, and the plan was to first study medicine at the London Hospital (friends from Dublin YMCA gave him an introduction). See currently unavailable books See my books that are unfortunately currently out of print, and also not currently available as ebooks or audiobooks. Jim’s story begins with his family. His mother is ill and unemployed. Without money they become homeless. She can no longer care for Jim and his two sisters so she visits an old friend looking for someone to take in the girls. When his mother collapses in the street, young Jim Is scared. They are taken to the workhouse where his mother soon dies. Life in the workhouse is brutal and Jim dreams of escaping. He would prefer to try to survive alone on the cold London streets rather than live in the harsh and heartless conditions of the workhouse.Rosie was very kind. She gave Jim's sister's a home when she could lose her job for it. She helped Jim when he had no one nowhere. I like Rosie A LOT. Now she's an example of a good character. Notice how the descriptions and pace alter from noise, voices and movement before Jim enters the workhouse, to silent images and slow actions once inside. Provide headings: Sights; Sounds; Actions; Feelings; and find descriptions for each aspect. A At the time of meeting Barnardo, he is about 10. He was probably born in 1858. There is no record of when he died.

I read this story with a year five class over the course of three weeks. The children were captivated by Jim’s plight and were eager to continue reading to the end. Most of the children were able to sympathise with Jim after considering their own lives and comparing that to the life of Jim. There were sensitive issues in the story, such as Jim losing his mother and being evicted from his home, and these had to be dealt with delicately. http://shop.scholastic.co.uk/search/search?search[query]=street+child&log=t&age_type=age_range&now=query&search[department_id]=&x=0&y=0

This activity focuses on chapter four, ‘The Workhouse’. This activity can linked to the activity Street Child, the play, which looks at the play adaptation of the story and compares it to the novel. Before reading ANo. I don’t even know London very well, let alone the London of nearly two hundred years ago! I walked round the streets of London and along the river Thames, read a lot, took photographs, and tried to imagine it all as it must have been a long time ago. That’s the writer’s job. I need to make myself familiar with the place where my stories are set, so it will seem familiar to the reader too. I work in class E2 in a Christian school in Cleveon near Bristol and we did homework, guided reading and other activities related to it as we were studding victorians

A Not yet, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was one! Street Child and Far From Home could be sequel films, or the lives of Jim, Emily and Lizzie could be wound together into one film. I can just imagine it! An excellent piece of historical fiction showcasing the struggles of an orphan child trying to survive alone in merciless Victorian London. After his mother dies Jim is flung from one extreme of deprivation to another. Forced into the Workhouse and then unwillingly sold for child labour; at first it seems to be cruel adults that rest at the root of Jim’s suffering. As time progresses, the system of privilege being prioritized over the poor becomes more apparent. It was warming to see the glimmers of kindness shining within those who may not be so fortunate themselves. A vast, Nordic setting and a hauntingly melodic tone evoking the rhythm of its harbors anchor this selkie tale. Weaving together ancient stories from Iceland, Scotland and Ireland, Doherty (The Continue reading » I read this book during SEA with a year 5 class as it linked well with our Mantel of the Expert topic (the Victorians). We followed the QCA scheme of work for this book; this gives you a pre prepared lesson plan frame and a IWB programme. Although this scheme of work was a good basis, it was somewhat limited in the creativity of lessons so I adapted it a lot. Nevertheless, it is worth looking at as it was helpful in dividing the book into sections to read and gave a few good ideas for lessons (e.g. conscience alleys).Jim and his sisters Emily and Lizzie live in a London tenement with their mother, Annie. They are evicted by the landlord because Annie is too ill to work and can’t pay the rent. Annie leaves her daughters with her friend Rosie, and then she and Jim are homeless and on the streets. The workhouse They are taken to the workhouse, where Annie dies. Life in a Victorian workhouse was harsh and hopeless for Jim. Imagine the workhouse school, the workhouse infirmary, the madhouse. London street life

Easy cross curricular links with history- children's place in society, men and women's roles, social classes. Could use this for letter writing from Jim to his sisters. Street Child is my bestselling novel based on the story of Jim Jarvis, who alerted Dr Barnardo to the plight of destitute children in Victorian London. After escaping from a workhouse, his adventures and hardships finally led him to attend a Ragged School, where Barnardo asked him for his story. AOnly Jim Jarvis and Dr Barnardo. I don’t know whether Jim had any sisters, or if he knew someone called Rose – they’re all made up. the book street child i recomand to children all around the world it is a book about a boy called jim who is a orphan that runs away from the workhouse to find his sisters emily and lizie so all read street child AI think it was Jim, because he never gave up in spite of all the awful things that happened to him.The preface is written in the first person, and Jim is with someone he refers to as Barnie (Dr Barnardo). So, right from the start, the reader knows that Jim is safe and well. Jim reminds me of Oliver from Oliver Twist. Even though he's a little more brave and doesn't trust anybody. But the situations were almost same. I couldn't help comparing the two. And I know that Oliver Twist is a classic and this is not but that really didn't matter to me. But something about it doens't seem right. I mean, Jim was always potrayed as a hero and literaly never made a wrong step. But it wasn't much of a problem so I have no idea why it's bothering me.