From the Classroom

Year 4 Sovereign Hill Camp

Our Year 4 Happy Campers enjoyed their event-filled days exploring Sovereign Hill in Ballarat, stepping back in time to discover what life was like during the 1850s Gold Rush. Students immersed themselves in the sights, sounds and experiences of the goldfields while learning about the challenges, opportunities and daily life of those who lived during this fascinating period. It was a memorable camp filled with learning, laughter and plenty of new adventures! We would like to send a MASSIVE thank you to the fantastic Dads who gave up their time to assist with all aspects of camp life and help everyone enjoy this wonderful experience. 

Here are some student reflections:

The Year Fours went on school camp for two nights. Before I went, I felt excited to go. When we arrived, I felt even more excited than before. - Immy.R

For dinner we had pasta bolognese and a brownie with cream! Then later that night we had the AURA light show! - Layla.C

The first thing we did was the self-guided Red Hill Mine tour. It was very dark, and it showed a very big fake or replica golden nugget called The Welcome Nugget. - Evie.B

When it was shopping time, I bought a horseshoe with my name on it! - Nanaki.S

We learnt about The Welcome Nugget. The piece of gold weighed 42 kilos! It made Ballarat famous. - Evie.D 

We went to a school education session and learnt about the 1850s and the mining they did in the gold rush. - Eliza.H

I panned for gold and found two tiny pieces of gold. We also learned that it used to cost 1 pound (which is equivalent to $1000) every month to have a gold license. The best part of camp was staying up late and chatting to my friends. - Ben.R

I liked learning about how people lived on the goldfields and learnt that 'Eureka' was shouted when someone found gold and it literally means 'I have found it'. - Zara.I

My favourite part of camp was watching the demonstration of how confectionery was made and tasting raspberry drops and buying jars of lollies. - Owen.B

I loved staying in a room with my friends and staying up late. We were singing songs and telling stories! - Elijah.S

The Pantomime was so fun. Some students got to go up on stage and participate in the play. Travelling down 20 metres underground into the quartz mine was awesome. It was pitch black for about 90 seconds. - Mitchell.Y

I liked going into the mines and learning about how they used equipment to find gold. Dressing up the mannequins in classic clothing was interesting. - Ella.C

We saw real 24 carat gold being melted and then poured into a bar. It was worth around $600,000!! -Lottie.J

I really liked the magic show as part of the pantomime. I also enjoyed buying a toffee apple from the confectionery store and eating one for the first time ever! - Lottie.B

We learned about The Welcome Nugget and how people mined for gold in the olden days. - Millie.L

It was fun going in the cart underground and looking at the history around the mine. - Andy.C

I liked going shopping and buying the raspberry drops. - Livy.G

I enjoyed gold panning with my dad. - Harry.C