First school group through the Orange Regional Museum
The Orange Regional Museum reached a milestone yesterday with the first school group touring the facility and participating in one of the many educational workshops on offer.
The Year 9 and 10 History class from Red Bend Catholic College in Forbes, was, yesterday, guided through a hands on workshop about the gold rush and the impact it had on the region.
Orange City Council’s Services Committee Chair Cr Ron Gander said the museum had a range of hands-on activities designed to enhance students’ knowledge about the history of the central west.
“When I was in school you sat in front of a blackboard and wrote lines, now learning is so much more interactive and the museum is a fantastic way to get kids fully involved in hands on experiences,” he said.
“Kids are far more likely to remember what they’ve learned if they can discover something for themselves and that’s what the educational programs at the museum are designed to do.
“Students are guided towards discovery and encouraged to think for themselves, interpret history for themselves and use critical thinking tools.”
Orange Regional Museum Public Engagement and Education Officer Jess Dowdell said the first workshop was received well by both students and their teachers.
“During the activity section the students engaged well with the source material, we talked about John Lister and the Tom brothers, who are quintessential Aussie underdogs and their campaign to be recognised as the discoverers of payable gold,” she said.
“They enjoyed reading the firsthand accounts of the discovery of gold and making comparisons between modern and historical characters.”
Ms
Dowdell said school bookings were going well given the museum opened late
November last year, when teachers had already finalised their term one
commitments.
But she was looking forward to the next group of students to come through on
Friday from Year 1 and 2.
“All of the educational programs were developed with teachers to ensure the content linked closely with the curriculum in order to enhance the student’s experiences at school,” she said.
Ms Dowdell said she had contacted about 100 schools in the central west region and was aiming to have about six school groups through the museum per week next semester.
Cr Gander said the school group coming through on Friday would be visiting the newly refurbished Orange City Library as well as visiting the exhibitions at the Orange Regional Gallery.
“We’ve got this wonderful cultural hub and it is great to see our city’s young people utilising the area.”
Consultation has concluded
