Year 5 Spotlight

Visiting Sovereign Hill

On Wednesday 6th May the Year 5 students visited Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. Our excursion to this ‘living museum’ enabled our students to immerse themselves in life on the goldfields, including panning for gold, visiting the Red Hill mine, learning about what life was like in the 1850s, how people travelled and lived on the goldfields, and shopping in the main street – the lolly store, and raspberry drops in particular, seemed to be a favourite! 

This experience will assist us in developing our understanding of the Victorian Gold Rush to support our learning in both our history unit and our writing focus on historical fiction. Many thanks to the staff and parent helpers who helped make this experience a success.

These are some quotes from the students about our day at Sovereign Hill:

Quotes:

• Sovereign Hill was one of the best excursions we have ever been on. We enjoyed every aspect of it. Despite the long bus trip, learning about the 1850s was a lot of fun too. Our favourite things included the underground mine tour and the shops. ~ Penny & Isobel, 5B
• Sovereign Hill was a great experience. We learnt a lot about the history of the gold rush and how hard it was to try and pan and find gold. Seeing people dressed up and visiting the shops was a highlight. ~ Viv, 5B
• The experience I had at Sovereign Hill was really great. I learnt a lot. I liked the old shops and enjoyed visiting the lolly shop. ~ Etta, 5B
• Sovereign Hill was such a fun experience. We learnt a lot of facts about that part of history. There were plenty of fun things to do. ~ Sophie, 5D
• Our highlights of the excursion were the learning experience, the underground mine (not that scary) and visiting the shops. Panning for gold was fun too! ~ Iliana & Theda, 5B
• Our highlights included panning for gold, the underground mine tour, and the classroom learning experience. ~ Seb & Harvey, 5B
• I liked going in the mine. ~ Kasper, 5A
• I liked the main street because of all the variety of shops and I felt like I was literally in the past. ~ Charlotte, 5C 
• I loved the mines because of the sounds and how it felt so real. ~ Ella, 5C
• I liked the mine because it was dark. ~ Charlie, 5A
• I loved the mine because it felt like you went so deep down underground. ~ Harper, 5C
• I liked panning for gold. ~ Ben, 5A
• I liked the mining tour with the replica of the welcome nugget. ~ Trinity, 5C
• I liked the education session because we got to learn about the real people back then and how they were treated. ~ Ava, 5C
• I liked the main street because there were lots of shops. ~ Libby, 5A
• I liked the people there because they were beautifully dressed and they talked in a funny way. ~ Sophia, 5C

Year 5 teachers (Naomi, Blake, Anne, Tom & Olivia) and Students