Senior Primary
Sovereign Hill Camp
As part of the Term 2 unit, 'Welcome Home - the Story of Immigration' - Senior Primary Students attended a 2-night, 3-day camp at Log Cabin Camp (Creswick) and time at Sovereign Hill to understand early European life in Australia, and to respect Indigenous Australians as the First People of this Nation. Students began with a self-guided tour of the old Ballarat Cemetery. They were surprised and saddened to learn how many people died at a young age, especially children due to the era’s poor living conditions, and how many gravestones honoured people who had migrated from different countries for the Gold Rush. There was a dedicated area for the Chinese migrants, who played an integral part of our history.
Log Cabin Camp is one of the most welcoming and well-equipped camp sites a school can visit. The staff and activities are second to none. Of course, Sovereign Hill is a famous living-museum where students are literally taken back in time to learn of the hardships and successes of life on the Gold Fields. To make it even more authentic, each student was given a ‘Miner’s Licence’ that was to be carried at all times. To their delight, one of the ‘Police Officers’ demanded to see their licences at once! If someone could not produce their licence, their punishment was not a fine (like in the 1800s), but 10 star-jumps or push-ups! Luckily, this time, they were all able to present them, much to the officer’s (mock) disgust!
We would like to thank everyone who made our camp possible, the Office Staff, bus drivers, camp staff, Sovereign Hill staff and of course the Senior Primary Teaching Team who spent time away from their families to create a wonderful lifelong learning opportunity for our students. Please enjoy some student reflections and photos below.
The SP Teaching Team
I adjusted my strap, as I took a deep breath and looked at the zipline above me. I climbed the stairs up the tower and felt each one shaking under my feet. Then, I stood on the yellow platform waiting for my turn. “ZZZZZZZZZZ!” The people in front of me were now on the zipline gliding through the air! It was then our turn - Stanley and I walked onto the platform as Rich adjusted the ‘zippy’. Soon, it was time to jump off! My mind raced with excitement and fear, but I quickly shook it off as it was time to go! Adrenaline rushed through my body, and I jumped! I was in the air flying across the tall trees. I looked over to Stanley who was as excited as me and then it was time to land. This turned out to be quite funny with Stanley landing on his back. I would definitely do this again!
Henry K
“Little bit higher! Little bit higher!” I say as I’m being lifted. “There, perfect!” I can hear people yelling at me to pull the rope. I grasp the rope with my hand and yank it with all my might! I feel a gust of wind smash my face. I feel my harness jolt me forwards. I see the ground come dangerously close. Suddenly my harness catches me, and I swing! As I swing, I realise how epic it is. I just wish I went higher.
I strap into my harness and lock on to the zipline. “Three! Two! One! The gates are open!” Rich shouts. I jump off the platform and fly through the air. Wind thrashes my face, and the line screeches loudly. I smash into the ground, and I graze my knees. I run back and get ready for round two.
Seth N
Sovereign Hill was amazing. We got to go to a class and learn about different people who migrated. We also went down on a mine tour to see what mines looked like back in the day. We went gold panning and I got some GOLD! We tried bowling where we had to roll the ball with two hands down the lane to the pins. We also saw candle dipping and the demonstrator dipped his hands in the wax and then coloured it! We also went to a lollie shop and I bought some coke drops for my Mum for Mother’s Day.
Zahara M
Senior primary camp was AMAZING!! We did so many fun activities at the camp
such as archery, milk crate stacking, twin zipline and giant swing. My class started with archery. We sat on some logs that surrounded an undercover area where we talked about being safe with the bow and arrow. Then my teacher called us up by twos to have our turn shooting at the target. We were probably about 5m away from the target and we all did pretty good. So we all had so much fun. Our next activity was milk crate stacking where we were in two teams and one of us put in a harness and pulled up high while stacking crates trying to stack higher than the other team while your other teammates helped pass you crates or were in other harnesses to help pull you up, I was one of the helpers that did helpful stuff then I was a stacker and it was so much fun!! Then we moved on to the twin zipline, the leader gabby told us how to put on the harnesses so we could all put on our own harnesses then she showed us the zippys that were going to make us zip down the zipline. We all got two turns each I went down the zipline with my friend Ezra, when we stepped off the platform the first time we just fell backwards then the second time, we got the lady to push us off when we werent ready, at the end of the zipline you just landed on a hill with a bunch of soft mulch at the end, and that was quite fun. Then the last, in my opinion the most fun activity was the giant swing!! When we got there we waited for the last class to finish off. While we waited, we got to watch the last few people swing and it looked so fun! Once the last class finished we got into a harness and then one of us at a time got clipped up to the swing while the rest of us got ready to pull a rope that made the person in the swing go higher and higher. The person that was about to swing had the choice to swing backwards, forwards or even upside down most of us chose to go upside down, in my opinion it was better to go upside down because you couldn't see how high up you are so it was easier to pull the rope to make you start swinging, when you pulled the rope you would get thrown around a bit before you'd start swinging smoothly. It was all super fun and if I had the chance I would definitely do it again.
Eli T
On day two of log cabin camp, all of us went to sovereign hill. At sovereign hill we split into class groups, meaning the different classes were in separate groups led by the class teacher. We (SPR) first went to the blacksmith where the blacksmith showed us how he bent metal. Next, we went to the newspaper shop, where we could purchase newspaper designs and customized them to say different things. After that we went to confectionery Spencer where we could buy lollies for us to take home with us. The raspberry drops were everybody's favourite lollies in the shop. My favourite one was sour grape drops. After that, we went to a shop that I can't remember the name of, but it had lollies and some toys that you could play with, but one toy you couldn’t play with because it was kind of dangerous to play with because it could poke your eyeball out. Then, we walked past a jewellery store that was really expensive and everything was out of everybody’s money limit so nobody could buy anything from that shop, but some people still wanted something from the shop and could not buy it.
Finally, we went gold panning at the lake that had tiny specks of gold in it. It was hard work but a few people found a lot of gold. We left Sovereign Hill thinking that we would come back after dinner for the aura show not knowing that some of us would not go back in time for the show. While we were there we went to a lot of demonstrations like gold pouring, gold mine tour and even an education demo! That is basically all the things the SPs did at Sovereign Hill. It was very fun at Sovereign Hill.
Eli P
Sovereign Hill Log Cabin Camp was all together amazing. One of the many things I loved was the Giant Swing. It was the second time I have ever been on one and it was fun and exciting. I loved it when I went whizzing through the air. As I went, I could see the sun setting through the field and trees.
I also liked being in the cabins. I was with lots of friendly people, and we had a lot of fun talking and laughing. I also enjoyed going to Sovereign Hill. I didn’t find any gold, but I loved going into the mines, the Candle shop and the lollie shop. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to go to the Aura Show, but we still had a great time back at camp watching a movie instead.
Camp was amazing!
Ariana Bradbury
SP camp went for 3 days, we left on Wednesday the 7th of May and got back on Friday the 9th. On the first day, we got to school early and left as school was starting. The bus drive was extremely long, we had around three breaks. We got to Log Cabin Camp in Ballarat at 5:30ish. We did an activity; my class did the Giant Swing, (my favourite activity). Then we had dinner, I am so, so grateful for the dinner staff, they were amazing, they helped in the best way that I’ve come across in everything. After dinner, we went on a bush walk and then to bed. I had eight other year six girls in my cabin. The second day was jam-packed, my cabin woke up at 5am!! We waited for a little bit, then talked, after breakfast we went to Sovereign Hill, it was amazing!! We went gold panning, saw tents that the miners lived in, and bought all sorts of lollies. We learnt all about the gold rush and how the miners lived in the 1800s. We got to go to a mine tour underground, we saw a gold pour, we went to a blacksmith, and so much more. I am so grateful for all the teachers that came on the camp, they were supportive and helpful. After Sovereign Hill, we went back to the cabins for dinner, which was delicious, and then we got back on the bus to go to the Aura Show. But the bus was late, and the Sovereign Hill staff wouldn’t let us in after the show had started, SPB & SPG got to go as their bus was earlier. The bus driver felt so bad, even though it wasn’t his fault. He was starting to tear up! We got back to camp, and the awesomely incredible camp staff, teachers and L.A.s set up a slumber party for us! We were in our PJs, we had snacks, couches and cushions, and we had the best time! After this, we went to bed, after talking, of course. The third day was the other three activities that your class hadn’t done, (out of the giant swing, archery, the zipline, and milk crate stacking) and another very long bus ride. We had one stop one the way back and watched High School Musical! It was great. We got back to school at 5pm and had the weekend to recover. In conclusion, camp was full of amazing experiences that I’ll never forget.
Alyssa R
To the staff at Sovereign Hill.
Thank you for teaching me all about what it was like in the 1800s. It was fun but educational. Your ways of teaching were extraordinary. The Aura Night show was even better, all the lights, fires, sounds - it was all amazing, fun and exciting, it taught us of the Aboriginal Dreamtime story too.I learnt that kids in school had to sit up straight, and the teachers had complete authority over students. I learnt that gold can only be completely clean by melting it down and only then it is pure 24 carat gold. I enjoyed the mine and the night show because the mines were dark, fun and a little creepy.
Thank you for everything, all my blessings to you.
From Stanley.
