Wendy our Educator worked with Heriot school today. The students had a chilly start to the morning, with the Autumn weather creeping in, but that was NOTHING compared to the frosty personality of Miss Gray!

Heriot school had a full day programme here at the Lakes District Museum which meant the students had a full on day with these activities:

• An 1880's school room experience with a scary teacher called Miss Gray. Miss Gray taught the students handwriting and arithmetic, and she had a cane to use on any naughty students.
• A museum visit, where students got to explore the museum as well as handle some extremely precious artefacts. Student's got to hold a moa bone, a poha, and a pounamu mere. 
• A historic walk of Arrowtown showed students the wee miner's cottages that the settlers lived in over a 100 years ago. Students were also locked in the Old Gaol, and got to retrace Saint Mary MacKillop's footsteps at St Patrick's Church and the old Catholic school.
• A tour of the Chinese settlement introduced students to the difficult living conditions the Chinese settlers experienced. The basic huts in the village were made from schist rock found along the Arrow river.
• GOLD PANNING was the last activity! Students learned different panning methods and some were even lucky enough to find gold.

Were you scared of Miss Gray?

Why does the Old Gaol have funny spelling? How would you spell it?

Do you think living in the Chinese settlement would have been hard? Why?

Did you find gold?

What was your favourite artefact from the museum visit?

Answer my questions and comment about your visit to Arrowtown below!