Strong Hearts Strong Minds

News from the Primary School

Senior Primary Camp Reflections

Here is also a video of all the fun that was had on camp!

At Sovereign Hill I learnt about how the miners were treated and what would happen to them if they didn’t present their licences. If they didn’t present their licence they would be put in jail, and jail wasn’t nice then. At log cabin camp I challenged myself by going on the giant swing. I felt so worried and scared but I did it anyway. I didn’t go to the full height, but I wish I did.

Indigenous reflection:

The gold rush affected the Indigenous People a lot, it destroyed lots of land and the cattle and sheep also affected a lot of land as the miners needed food for animals. The miners also chopped down lots of trees so they can build houses, start fires, and support the mines underground, and they needed wood for all of this.

The Indigenous People didn’t value gold at all as it was so soft for tools and money wasn’t a thing for them so they didn’t value it.

Matthew J

We first started on the bus while departing from MECS, then we started to catch speed. While we were on our way to Ballarat we stopped at two parks, one was earlier in the ride where we stopped to have recess food. The second stop is when we went to the graveyard. I found the graveyard really interesting because when I saw the busted graves it made me wonder “why?” After the graveyard and park, we finally arrived at Log Cabin camp where our group went on the zip line/flying fox. The camp flew way past my expectations.

Indigenous reflection:

Because of the amount of land the English needed to mine, they found a solution, but not a great one. They took most of the Aboriginal’s land for gold mining. Indigenous Australians didn’t find gold valuable because of how fragile it is. It means you cannot craft tools with it, which means no value. The Indigenous Australians did not use currency, so didn’t use gold this way.

James Cen H

Clip-clop, the cart rattled past, the horses pulling the wagon up the hill. Their hooves clattering on the cobblestone road. We stare out at the huge horses with their shaggy feet picking up mud from the warm, dry blacksmith’s shop. The Main Street shops hum with business, despite the rain and wind. The river edges are crowded, people swarm around the gold pans. I dip my pan in, slicing through the water, digging deep into the sand and rocks. I lift the pan and swish the water around, emptying the bigger rocks and leaving only the grains of sand and the possibility of gold! We stood where millions of diggers and miners stood searching for their fortunes. We went to Sovereign Hill, a trip to the past, a camp to revisit history, a camp to face our fears and to learn about the people before us.

Olivia P

The Indigenous Australians had everything they needed, clean air, food, water, clothes, and housing. When the Europeans came, they destroyed everything, the land, nature, and rivers; all for one thing, gold! The Indigenous Australians didn’t value gold because they had no use for it. Gold is soft and was useless for making tools. I learned many interesting things, but one that stood out to me was about the Miner’s Licence. I learnt that these licences cost two pounds every three months, which was very expensive. I also learnt that the police were corrupt, meaning they would rip and burn peoples’ licences just because they were paid if miners were found without it.

Helena M

On camp we went on a zipline, giant swing, and a mini car train. We went to the aura show, we did archery, we did milk crate stacking and we went to Sovereign Hill. The giant swing was really big. I went to the top, even though I was terrified. I pulled the rope cord and it turned out to be really fun. The zipline was really fun.

I was partners with Mrs Anderson and Miss Bailey. Mrs Anderson got her butt dirty because she couldn’t turn around. The archery was really fun. Izzy got two bullseyes! I collected Miss Bailey's arrows, some of hers we lost. Mr Sukh and Miss Bailey both tried to get bullseye’s but they didn’t.

Elysha V

The Sovereign Hill camp was an amazing experience! As we hopped out of the bus I was awestruck because of the beautiful trees and landscapes! Here's some stuff about camp that I would like to highlight: the activities, food and more, let me tell you why. When I went on the zipline and the giant swing it gave me excitement and a rush of dopamine but for both rides I felt a little scared but I pushed on through!

The food

I also loved the food the staff prepared - every breakfast, lunch, dinner and the morning tea. All this food was an experience I would never miss. I also really enjoyed the drinks and the free time we got.

The light show

For the first night at Sovereign Hill we went to the lightshow! As the leaders of our groups guided us to the entrance I heard whimsical music playing in the background. We got seated and waited for the staff to tell us what to do. Now we were walking to the theatre as we were about to get it. The staff gave us 3D glasses and let me say the presentation was sensational with all the explosions, sounds and flying objects is something I could never forget. After we walked out through the theatre outside we made it to a futurist type train which led us through the gold rush in Sovereign Hill. It was fun seeing what the old days looked like, seeing all the old buildings and tents. After the train stopped we all got off and went to our next destination! And now finally what we've all been waiting for, the Light Show! We walked down to an area stationed over water and dirt where we stood and waited till the light show started after 5 painful minutes. It was like the last presentation but showing the aboriginals' past describing how they thought everything was created via Bunji, an eagle type creature they thought created them and everything around them. But this was longer than the last presentation.

The day at Sovereign Hill

This day we went gold panning, walked on a mine tour and watched blacksmiths make gold while we were at Sovereign Hill. We went to learning camps and we also got tons of candy. While I was gold panning I found gold, but I decided to put it back into the river.

Micah M