At the beginning of Term 1, Grade 2 shared their understanding of history.

History is something from the olden days or the past. We know about it by watching TV shows, looking at pictures from the past, searching on the computer, reading books about the past and interviewing older people. Asking Siri and google are other ways of finding out.    Atharv

I think history is the past and they didn’t have the things that we have now. Long ago, back in time, there were no Xboxes or video games or soft warm beds or jet skis.  Jesper

We wrote part of our own history by writing a memory of when we were in Kinder.

In Kinder I didn’t want Mum and Dad to go home. I used to shake the fences. I was crying a lot until recess. I couldn’t wait for home time. Marli

I remember in Kinder I had best friends called Thea and Marlee. We played games and also made a tower. My teacher was Miss Snooks. We played on the equipment. Maddison

We found out about the history of Burnie Primary School. You can see a display about this in the front corridor near Grade 2T

Did you know

• Burnie Primary School was established in 1852. It operated in a cottage on the corner of Alexander St and North Terrace. It was called Emu Bay Public School.
• When Miss T went to Burnie Primary, it was called Burnie State School.
• The school celebrated its 150^th birthday in 2002.

We asked Miss T questions to find out what our school was like when she went to Burnie Primary.

• What was your classroom like? Reema
• Did you have to wear a school uniform or just your own clothes? Isla
• When was the building made? Amelia
• What happened when children did the wrong thing? Ava
• Was there a cafeteria or canteen? Maddox
• How did you know when school started and ended? Billie
• What were the telephones like? Hudson Y
• What was your playground like? Alexander
• Were there many people in the school? Jesper

We constructed T charts comparing Burnie Primary School now and when Miss T was in Grade 2. This is Arie’s chart and Ali's picture.

We tried on old school uniforms from this time and wrote about them.

The tunic was blue with a belt. In Burnie State School people also wore a white top under the tunic. It was actually called a blouse. A tunic is a sort of dress that goes over your head. There were middle sized white socks and a yellow and blue striped tie. The kids used to wear a jumper and a jacket that was called a blazer. Harry

Burnie Primary School Uniform 1960

Miss T wore a white blouse, a navy blue tunic and a navy blue, yellow and blue tie. She also wore socks and shoes with a blazer and jumper. She also wore a belt. The blazer had three pockets. One at the top and two more at the bottom. The pocket at the top had a logo. Reema

After comparing Burnie Primary School now and in the past (1950s) we gave reasons for which school we preferred.

Most children preferred their current school

I prefer BPS because the uniforms are really comfy and you don’t have to wear so many clothes. We get to sit on comfy mats and Miss T didn’t. We have a bigger ground with lots of play equipment. Billie

I would rather be at school in the 1950s because I want to finger paint. It seems fun. The 1950s is better because I want more school time for a lot of learning and because I love milk with the cream. The school now has none of that. Jesse