Year 9 Social Studies
Year 9 students have recently been on day excursions to Ashburton as part of their Social Sciences learning. They have been looking at migration and its impacts on people, communities and places. Museum staff member, Esther, took time to educate us on the restored Ng King family business site in Allenton, where we learned about their early lives and the operation of their business. Some of the older members of Methven may even remember the Ng King family visiting Methven, delivering fresh fruit and vegetables? We investigated the old buildings, viewed artefacts and completed a scavenger hunt utilising the information boards. Unfortunately the weather did not play ball for some of the trips and shelter took priority over exploring on a very wet and wild Monday.
After morning tea we headed off to the Ashburton museum who hosted us for the remainder of the day. Classes covered further activities such as map reading of original site planes and listening to the migrant stories recorded on video in the central are of the museum displays.
Lunch was an excursion into the Domain for kai and an energetic bout of play on the amazing facilities provided in the playground.
Our last session was a shared talk by local migrants who discussed the challenges they have faced moving to a new country and the experiences they have had. The students took the opportunity to ask questions to further understand some of the impacts involved.
Learning outside of the classroom is always valued and follow up work is now to continue by classes looking at the early Chinese miners and other groups that have ventured here to Aotearoa New Zealand. Why did your family originally move here? Take time to share your knowledge with your students as we all have different stories, each unique and valuable.
