Target age range: Key Stage 3

This scheme of learning allows students to conduct an enquiry into how ‘ordinary’ life in Wales has changed over time and develop a broad range of both subject-specific (‘working like an historian’) and cross-curricular skills in numeracy, oracy and digital literacy. It achieves this using Post Office work records as primary evidence from the Victorian era, and in doing so allows an investigation into the role and significance of both the Post Office itself and the service industry during the late industrial period. It opens up conversations around the impacts of work on health and livelihoods, as well as life and society in Victorian Wales for both men and women.

This scheme of learning has been developed under the humanities AoLE for the Curriculum for Wales, but can easily be adapted for use in other contexts.

This resource was written by Francesca Dickson, a history teacher at Crickhowell High School.

Particular thanks to The Postal Museum for their permission to reproduce images and sources in this resource.

Every effort has been made to trace all image copyright holders for these resources, although occasionally it has not been possible. Please contact Maheema Chanrai at maheema.chanrai@history.org.uk with any queries regarding image use or copyright.