Our Story
'Step into History' is a fun, hands-on experience that brings history to life for Year 1 and 2 students in the Greater Brisbane region. It all began when Lynne Cargill, was a Year 2 teacher. Each year she took her class to a local historical village. It was enriching and the children did enjoy it, but many items were behind glass or ropes. At times the entire class had to line up and wait for a turn to use a single artifact. Lynne started bringing quills, pen and ink into class, then shaving equipment. When she retired, she created an experience for her granddaughter's Year 2 class. The teacher's raved about how wonderful it was, insisting she must take it to other schools. So Lynne began hunting far and wide for fun and educational historical artifacts, which would suit the Year 1 and 2 curriculum. The rest is...Step into History!
Our Staff
Lynne Cargill
Lynne is a retired early childhood teacher with a strong interest in history and a passionate belief in Learn Through Play. She is also a long time member of historical performance group, Dance Kaleidescope who have demonstrated dances at Woodford Folk Festival, the Picnic at Pemberley at Abbey Museum, as well as events at other historic houses.
Jenni Cargill-Strong
Jenni is a qualified secondary teacher and a professional storyteller, with five award winning story albums. She began touring schools in 1993 after drama school, when she became a storyteller and also joined the mediaeval ensemble, 'Pastance'. Like the rest of her family, Jenni has always had an avid interest in history. (Her other claim to fame is being Lynne's little sister!)
Tillee Collings
Tillee is Lynne's granddaughter. The first version of 'Step into History' was created by Lynne especially for Tillee and her class, back when she was in Year 2. As a child, Tillee appeared in historic dance demonstrations, posed for photos in costume and now is a presenter. Tillee is also studying Occupational Therapy.
Raymonde de Lathouder
Raymonde is a qualified teacher, who has been with Step into History for nine years. She has a background in biology, and works with talented and gifted students, specialising in science and mathematics. Raymonde is a close, long-time family friend, who also shares a fascination for historical things.
Helen Rankin
Helen is a retired early childhood teacher. Like Lynne and Jenni, she vividly remembers using many of the artifacts in the collection. Helen is collecting stories of 'the olden days' from her elderly clients and sometimes identifies as 'an old relic'.