History & Como House

For Inquiry, students in Year 2 have been completing a History Unit learning about what life was like in the past and how things have changed over time. In class, students were invited to bring in a historical item to display and share with their peers. We had a vast array of items including old telephones, type writers, record players, pocket watches, coffee machines and older style gaming machines, to name a few. It was terrific to see and learn about each of the items and see how things have changed over time. 

To complement this learning, last Wednesday, on the 20th of August, the Year 2 students went to Como House to learn about what life was like back in the olden days. Students learnt about the Armytage family who lived in the Como House for almost a century. The house gave students an insight into the lives of the Armytage family, who were quite wealthy and used servants to help run the house. 

Students participated in four different activities which consisted of, a tour of the Como House, a detective expedition around the gardens to solve the mystery of the broken toy doll, played a variety of olden day games such as sack races, drop the hanky and croquet, and experienced what life was like as a servant by having a go at washing clothes without the use of a washing machine. 

We were blessed with beautiful weather and the students enjoyed engaging in the activities and furthering their learning. 

Here are some things the students had to say about the excursion:

Estelle - “I learnt that the servants had to remember 14 bells and they all had different sounds.”

Finn - “I learnt what servants do. Servants cleaned up for the Armytage family.”

Isabella - “I like how we washed clothes. You had to scrub them on a board 15 times.”  

Matteo - “We had to squeeze the water out of clothes using a machine.”

Isabelle - “I learnt that they were very strict back then.”

Nicolae - “They had 15 maids and they all had really hard jobs.”

Maria - “I learnt that kids weren’t that important in the olden days.”

Jonah - “There was a disguised toilet in the bedrooms that looked like drawers.”