This is a plan of the ground floor of the Preparatory School [the primary school] of Manchester High School for Girls. The school was built in 1881.
The solid lines mark the first phase of the building. The thin lines mark the second phase of the building. The scale and the sizes marked on the plan are in feet and inches.
What to look at in the plan
There was a flight of steps between the front door and the main corridor. There were four single classrooms and one triple sized classroom. They were heated by coal fires and the fireplaces are marked by the small box shapes. There was an office for the headmistress. She also held meetings there. There were four cloakrooms. They are called dressing rooms on the plan. There was a bookstore for text books. There were two small music rooms with pianos. Individual pupils had music lessons there. For teachers there was a cloakroom and a staffroom. There were six toilets for the children and one toilet for the teachers. They are called WCs [for water closets] on the plan. A large coal store with a separate area was used for storing burnt ashes. A scullery was used for washing up after meals. There was a pantry for storing food.
Tasks
Make three lists in different columns:
In the first column write a list of the rooms which Manchester High Preparatory School had in Victorian times and which you also have in your school.
In the second column write a list of the rooms which Manchester High School's Preparatory Department had in Victorian times and which you do not have in your school.
In the third column write a list of the rooms which you have in your school and which Manchester High School's Preparatory School did not have in Victorian times.
Come to an overall conclusion about how similar and how different Manchester High Preparatory School was from your school.
Give some reasons why your school is different from the Manchester High Preparatory School.