5/6 Beechworth Camp

On the 29th of March, the 5/6 students travelled to the historical town of Beechworth. It was an amazing experience for students to listen to locals and learn about key events of Ned Kelly and the history of Beechworth. Students listened with curiosity and respect and enjoyed asking questions. 

Whilst the camp had its challenges, teachers were prepared to ensure students enjoyed their experience as much as possible . Teachers felt nothing but pride taking the well mannered students around town. Feedback from the town members and tour guides was that the students were extremely well behaved and respectful of the area. Some of the places the students visited below include:

The Sweet shop

The Sweet shop was a little downtown lolly store with all kinds of delicious sweets and toys. Inside, it was colourful and decorated with colourful lollies placed nicely on efficient looking shelves. It was hard to make up our minds on what we should get with the limited money that we had. It was a wonderful experience for us.

The Telegraph station

The Telegraph station was a little station filled with Morse code systems and machines built for communication for long distances in the olden days. We tried all the systems to see how they worked. It was interesting discovering all the ways of how technology used to work. Students were blown away by all the possible ways of communication. It was truly amazing.

Historic courthouse

The Historic courthouse was built for serious crimes committed in Beechworth. This was the courthouse where the famous Ned Kelly trial began, lasting for a long time, and ending up in Melbourne. It had a tall roof and there were different areas for the different roles of the court. We re-enacted the famous Ned Kelly case in which students played a role of. Students were lawyers, judges, prosecutors, sketches, and the man himself, Ned Kelly. Selected students read from a script to read and we all enjoyed the show!

Gold Panning 

Gold panning was by far the most popular activity. We caught the bus to Spring Creek where gold was found in the past. Even though the gold was rather tiny, we were all very competitive on who found the most gold. It took a lot of patience and effort with the panning but it was all worth it.

Beechworth Gaol tour

The Beechworth prison also known as the Old Beechworth Gaol was an astonishing prison built by the prisoners. It had strong brick walls to prevent prisoners from escaping. This was also used to hold the well-known Ned Kelly, the gang, and Ned’s mother, Ellen Kelly. The building had smart protection and security measures. Students learnt about the history of the whole prison including some of the Ned Kelly history. It was quite disturbing for some students but it was very interesting.