Current News

Welcome to our website!

The Friends of the Schoolhouse web site will keep you informed about The Old Britannia Schoolhouse and the activities and events planned by the Friends' organization. We encourage you to check this site often. New information will be added monthly.

Spring Newsletter

Our latest newsletter is now available on the Newsletter page. Click Here to find it. It has an item about the memorial gathering in June for Eva. Also a great recipe for rhubarb cake and another story about Young Will. This time he is involved in the end of year school Field Day and a baseball tournament. Read and enjoy!

Summer Fun

In a small farming village like Britannia in the late 1800s there was always lots to keep children occupied during the hot summer months. For the older children, there was work to do on the farm. Younger children could help a little too, perhaps weeding the kitchen garden. However, there was still time to have fun and perhaps get into mischief. If children complained about being bored, they would quite likely be reminded of chores that needed doing.

Twenty first century children have a very different summer experience. For those who live on farms it may not be much different. Still, many of the same tasks need to be done, but now mechanized equipment makes everything faster and easier. Of course, instead of horses that pulled the ploughs and other equipment and who needed to be looked after, today mechanical equipment needs to be maintained.

Most children these days live in an urban environment, many in apartments and condos where it's not even necessary to cut grass. What activities can amuse bored children these days? Here are some suggestions for this summer.

A Bioblitz Scavenger Hunt

A bioblitz is an activity the object of which is to find as many plants, animals, bugs, birds and reptiles as you can in your backyard and neighbourhood. By photographing and documenting these, one can submit the findings and contribute to information about the total number of species in an area. You can get involved in one of these Bioblitzes or just have fun with a scavenger hunt in your own area.

• Long pants and sleeves if you will be going into any area likely to have ticks.
• Sun protection
• Pad of paper and a pencil
• Camera
• Sharp eyes

1. Find specimens
   
   • Choose an area that has lots of plants like a garden.
   • Look carefully in an area to find as many different kinds of plants as you can. Take photos of the plants and also close-ups of the leaves and any flowers.
   • Are there any bugs or creepy crawlies on the plant? Take a photo of these too.
   • For each photo, write in your notepad the date and place where the photo was taken and the number of the photo. Was it the first one? The second? Etc.
2. Make an Album
   
   • Print your photos and put each one on a separate page.
   • Print the name of the plant, bug, or animal beside or under the photo. If you don't know what it is, see if you can find it in a book about plants and wildlife in the library.
   • Also print where and when the photo was taken.
3. Compare notes
   If several people have done a Bioblitz, compare albums to find out how many different species have been found and photographed.

Get Creative

A hot summer day is a great time to sit in the shade and get artistic. Draw or paint a picture. Make a collage with found objects in the garden like leaves, small stones, little sticks, a piece of bark and anything else that's small and lying around. Use your imagination.

Try something new

Is there something you have never tried? Perhaps you were hesitant to try it. Challenge yourself to do something new and different. It's a good time to learn something new like knitting, writing a story, composing a song.

Be Helpful

Helping someone is possible at any age. Set a goal to do one helpful thing each day.

A Message from the Friends of the Schoolhouse

Whatever you do, have a wonderful summer. The Friends of the Schoolhouse look forward to seeing you again in the Fall at Open Sundays. The schoolhouse welcomes visitors on the second Sunday in September, October, November and December from 1 to 4 pm.

Coming Events

Open Sundays are the second Sunday of the month from 1 until 4 pm in December, April, May and June.

Time to Renew Your Membership

Our membership year runs from January to December. Membership forms for renewal or new membership are on this website. Click here to get the form.

Echoes of the Past

This book, written and published by Friends of the Schoolhouse, documents the history of all of the rural one room schools that existed in Peel County.
Full colour, 208 pages, $30
It is available at all our events or from any member of the Friends of the Schoolhouse Executive.
There is a $10 charge for mailing.

Book Talks

Since the book, Echoes of The Past, was published in May 2016, the writers have been giving illustrated talks to historical societies and other interested groups. We talk about the book and tailor each presentation to suit the audience and the one room schools that were in their local area.
If your group would be interested in having a presentation, please contact Daryl Cook dlcook@rogers.com for further information.

Come and Join Us

If you have a couple of hours a month or only a few hours once or twice a year you could help us support the schoolhouse and its programs. The executive committee meets on the second Tuesday of the month from September to June to conduct the business of the Friends of the Schoolhouse and to plan programs and events. Our meetings are from 4 to 6 in the afternoon at the schoolhouse. Volunteers help on an occasional basis with our events and in the gardens. Not only do we support a worthwhile cause, we have a lot of fun doing it. Email our Executive Director Shirley Hoad at shoad@bell.net, if you have a few hours to spare and an interest in helping preserve a community treasure for future generations of children.

Mark Your Calendar

To see a list of our year's events go to the Events page.

Researching our Roots

There is still much more to discover about the Old Britannia Schoolhouse and other early one room schools. Read below for a wish list of "Wanted" items that will help us learn more about our historic schoolhouse.

Your contribution will be acknowledged. Materials supplied will either be returned to you or donated to the Peel County Archives on your behalf.

SLATE Group

SLATE stands for So Let's All Talk Education (in a one room school), or as one witty person suggested, being truly Canadian, So Let's All Talk Eh! Each year for a day in the spring people involved in working or volunteering in living history one room schoolhouses get together to exchange ideas and learn from each other. We meet at a different schoolhouse location each year which gives everyone the opportunity to experience how living history is presented in a setting different from their own.