We were held up by bushrangers, whipped into line and some children even had their fingers caught in the wringer. The naughty children had to spend some time in the stocks! We had the best day and learnt so much about life in the past. 

On Thursday 15 August, Year 1 set off to the Caboolture Historical Village to enhance our understanding about life in the past. While this was life for our great or great-great-grandparents, we still had such fun on the visit to see how many things were so different from life today. We all lined up on parade and sang God Save the King while the flag was furled. We then marched off to class. The small schoolroom was so bare in comparison to what we enjoy today. There was no OLA for play-based learning! There were no shelves of hands-on materials, posters on the walls, artwork displays or colourful picture books! 

The students each had a train ride, sifted for gems, saw the blacksmith in action and listened with fascination to the very busy mum who talked about and demonstrated ironing, washing and bathing in the past. We all became extra thankful for our modern appliances! Girls also were thankful they have greater opportunities now for work! 

We were so impressed with the many wonderful volunteers who enable this learning to take place. Our sincere thanks to the Gem Society, the Caboolture Historical Village, our GCC bus drivers and the parents who accompanied us. We are a blessed group!

Wendy Hay