This week, 43 grade 5/6 students and 7 staff members from four of our smaller rural schools came together for a very exciting collaborative camp at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat.

The camp is a wonderful opportunity for the students from different schools to engage with each other and learn about our local history at the same time.

The students role-played being a child at school on the goldfields in the 1850’s, including abiding by the behavioural expectations of the era ! Children gained fascinating insights into the distinct social norms and hierarchy of the times and had the rare opportunity to go behind the scenes of Sovereign Hill businesses and experience the tough and turbulent life on the diggings.

The camp is also a wonderful pathway into secondary school, giving students opportunity to meet other students from different schools in their district. It’s always nice to see some familiar faces on the high school bus!

Well done to St Joseph’s Primary School, Coleraine, St Joseph’s Primary School, Penshurst, Sacred Heart Primary School, Casterton, and St Malachy’s School, Edenhope for this great initiative which has been operating for 10 years.

St Malachy’s School, Edenhope