From the 5/6 Classrooms

This term, our whole school concept is Change. In Team 5/6, we will be exploring the impact of key events in the colonisation of Australia and the people who acted as catalysts for change in the early years of settlement. 

Essential Questions:

What were the events or discoveries that shaped early Australia?

Who shaped early Australia?

How can we use the internet to research?

How can we plan, design and construct a diorama?

How can we perform as a historical character? 

The Concept of Change

We began the term exploring the notion that every action causes some form of change. Some changes are tiny, while others can have an enormous impact on the world and those in it. Students created a Ripple Effect Diagram to show how just one change will inevitably result in many changes in our lives.  

The Ballad of Cobb & Co

Next, students considered the lyrics of an Australian song, The Ballad of Cobb & Co, to gain insights into life in the early colony. Cobb & Co was a coaching business that started in Australia in 1853. The coaches would carry passengers and mail to various places in Australia including remote and outback areas. In small groups, students explored a verse of the song, and then recorded and shared their thinking, including visualisations made and their questions and wonderings.  

It's been a century since the last Cobb & Co mail coaches ran in Australia, and just a few weeks ago a commemorative stagecoach journey marked the milestone by recreating one of the company's famed journeys. 

Researching An Event 

At the end of the term, students will display their learning through the creation of a museum of late 18th and 19th century Australia. This museum will house dioramas made by students depicting significant events in Australian history. Students themselves will also be a live display of early Australian pioneers, dressed in costume and ready to chat with visitors to the museum. With a partner, students have already began exploring significant events that occurred in Australia between1700 - 1900 in preparation for their museum display.

We are looking forward to a wonderful term of learning throughout our Change unit, including an excursion to the State Library of Victoria.