On Weds 6th September 80 year 7 learners went to the Howick Historical Village as part of their AIP about change. 

When we arrived we were welcomed by the friendly staff dressed in historical outfits.

We had a quick morning tea, then split into our groups to begin our first activity.

A lady by the name Mrs. White led us into the classroom. There was fancy cursive writing on the chalk boards, maps covering the walls, wooden seats and desks. On the desks were interesting looking pens with ink pots. The girls and boys were standing in a separate lines, entering the classroom one after the other. The teachers greeted us as the girls curtseyed and the boys bowed. We were seated in pairs, then there was a health check. We placed our hands parallel to each other on our desks. As the teacher walked past she checked our nails and then asked us to turn our hands over to then check our palms. The lesson then began.

We started off with history, and then talked about the past kings and queens and the UK (which was called the British Isles). We then moved on to handwriting. Students dipped their pens into the ink and began to write. The sentence we had to write was " Good Children make glad parents ". I was the last one to finish writing my name, so I was asked to stand up and recite the 5 times tables in front of the group. Next there was a spelling test girls vs boys. The words were quite challenging but I managed to spell one correct. We took turns to spell each word. But it ended up being a TIE!! We curtseyed and bowed and we were let out of the classroom.

Our next activity was herb picking, we went inside because of terrible weather, our instructor talked to us about the uses of herbs and how important they are. We then got to go outside in the herb garden and picked a few herbs. We were in groups and the group that made the best scent was the winner! We picked an array of herbs with contrasting scents. I picked some lavender, lemon balm and peppermint. All the scents complimented each other. We then put our herbs into the mortar and pestle  and mixed it well. It created a pleasant scent which kind of smelt like a perfume.

Our third activity was the courtroom. Where few students were given a role to act in the skit. I was James White the Law Clerk. I had to assist the judge and the direct the police with what to do. The Howick court was used for small cases and the larger cases were held in the city court. Our case was when a shopkeeper was owed money from a woman who was recently divorced. The woman was with the man when she bought the groceries with from the shopkeeper and they split soon after. We learnt that even if a woman did something bad back then her husband would be punished for it because he was responsible for being the man of the house.

Two women also did a skit showing us what was used in the olden days and what the rules were.

Then it was time for lunch, we played outside in a large open space and got to look at some old vintage machines. We ran around and enjoyed the weather (which cleared up!)

After lunch, half of the students watched a skit about the first people that travelled to New Zealand and what they brought with them, and the other half got to explore the different rooms in the village. I did the tour.

As we were walking around the village we saw lots of interesting objects and places.  There was a candy shop and a tent (which was probably a third of the size of my bedroom!) with a fire outside for cooking. There were also games and toys we could play with. I saw a horseshoe game and a lot of the toys were made of wood and string. All of the displays were very detailed.

Unfortunately, that was our last activity. I had an amazing time at the village! We said our goodbyes then went back to OJC.

By Preyesi Arora