Our Year 5 students went back in time to strike it rich on a goldfield and live a typical day in the life of a 1850s digger. The day started off with the students and teachers caught up in a nasty bushranger scenario, but luckily they were saved and led to ‘Varsityville’ by the General Store owner. This set the scene for the day and the excitement grew when the students started the activities. They role-played a number of situations that occurred during the gold rush era, such as haggling. They also panned and cradled for gold as well as working in teams to construct tents with limited resources and no instructions – this was interesting!
After lunch, students then bought their mining licenses and were let loose on the goldfield. “EUREKA!” was being screamed from every direction and students put their haggling skills to the test, negotiating money for their findings. Everybody involved in the day had an absolute blast and the children were all so well behaved.
