SD Flowers can say so much

17 May

In this session, the children studied a letter written by Mary, one of the Lincolne children, when she was 13 years old and away at boarding school in Beccles.

“Will you be so kind as to send me one of your most difficult music books or would you rather I should have new pieces? If I can have William’s French Dictionary it will be useful to me.”

It is written in the most beautifully clear copperplate script, which probably earned her good marks at school but made it difficult for the pupils at the Edgar Sewter to decipher; they had to use magnifying glasses to work out what she was saying.

Part of the letter refers to having a ‘nice little piece of ground’ allotted to her on which she was growing some flowers. She also asked for some music pieces and her brother William’s French dictionary, as it would be ‘useful’ to her.

All this talk of lessons prompted much chat amongst the children about what they were reading and learning.

They used lines from the letter along with news about their own school experiences to create a beautiful bouquet of flowers to send to the residents.

And, of course, the residents responded in kind—producing not only some lovely flowers, but also the decorated vases to hold them.