Junior School News

Prep  - Year 2 'Ol' School Day

The P-2 students dived deep into their Junior School Topic History unit last week, as we held our Ol' School Day on Monday 5th May. 

The students excitedly arrived at school in their old fashioned get-up, and it was lovely to see a wide-range of costume ideas, including outfits from the Victorian era, the 1920s, and traditional clothing from the various heritages of the student’s families.

We were very fortunate to have Perry’s (Prep LM) mum, Rosie, visit our school and share her history expertise with the students. The children sat enthralled, as they listened to stories, viewed historical photographs of Elsternwick, and made connections to how daily life has changed over time. One particular fun fact learned was the history in the name of our favourite local cafe, ‘Carter Lovett’. It takes its name from two women - Mrs Mary Carter (a draper and the site’s original owner) and Ms Jas Lovett (a florist who owned the business in the building across the road). Rosie then spoke of her fond memories of that building being a toy shop when she was a little girl (see photo below).

Thank you, Rosie, we loved having you at St Joseph’s!

To immerse the children in various historical concepts and skills, the students participated in various activities throughout the day. These included:

Old-fashioned Games

Old-fashioned classroom and calligraphy writing

Artefact Museum

Over the term, the students will learn about Community Histories, through the lens of personal history, the history of our school, and how our community has changed over time. 

The students will be explicitly taught the concepts of chronology, continuity and change.

We will also explore the reasons behind ‘Welcome to Country’, the way life has changed for the traditional custodians of our land, and the significance of cultural landmarks and how they impact our society today.

The students learning in this unit will culminate with a historical walk down Glen Huntley Road to support the final Elsternwick timeline project, presented to friends and family at our Open-Learning Session.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for the ‘Guess the baby’ photo displays outside of the Junior School classrooms!

Lisa Mclean

Junior School Leader