Last week our juniors got to experience what life was like for the early settlers of New Zealand on a school trip to Howick Historical Village

After experiencing a school lesson from the 1800s and playing with wooden games and toys from that era, the children got a chance to discover what the early settlers brought with them when they moved from Ireland to New Zealand. 

After their trip to the historical village Room 13 tried writing their own diary entry, pretending that they were a settler's child in 1850's New Zealand:

Tom N

 Dear Diary, I woke up cold so I had a warm breakfast. Then I went to school. I got one time. Then I went home and my sister was doing the laundry. I was helping my dad cutting the firewood. The end.

Frieda M 

Dear Diary, In the morning I got out of bed and went downstairs to eat breakfast but my mum said that we have no bread. So I went outside and got my horse and rode my horse to the field. At the field I made some bread. When the bread was done I went back on my horse and went back home. At home we ate some bread then I went to school. At school we did some writing and maths. After school I rode my horse back home.

Eva D

Dear Diary, When I woke up my mum made me do the washing. My brother was chopping firewood for my dad. I walked to school with my 3 brothers. At school, we practiced cursive and arithmetic. After school I had to do the sewing, then I found my friend Ruby.