One hundred and twenty five grade 5 and 6 kids from Warrnambool Primary School visited FJs on May18th, 2021 with their teachers. The teachers have developed a 6 week unit on Fletcher Jones as part of their 20th century Australian History curriculum. They will be using this FJ Stories website's themes for their study themes - so for example one group of kids will be studying the silver ball in detail, another innovation, etc, etc and the kids will be producing displays of their work. The teachers were so well prepared with creative and interesting activities for the kids to tour and learn about the site and FJ, the man and the business. One of the older teachers had his wedding photos taken in the gardens many years ago! One of the younger teachers was wearing a FJ jacket he got from the op shop recently!
One of the activities was studying the two story panels on-site and answering questions. One young fellow came up to me after he’d looked at the panels and said “well that’s an interesting story.” “What did you like” I asked? “I liked the story of the ball tower and that Fletcher Jones - well that he was a kind man.” I had so many lovely interactions with kids who were totally engaged in the site and the stories.
Lidia Allen was the overall organiser for the excursion and she thinks every school in Warrnambool should be studying Fletcher Jones and linking kids to their inspirational local history. I agree Lidia!
Julie Eagles
FJ Stories Coordinator.
