Stage 2 - Community and Remembrance
Discover the history of The Rocks and its communities through engaging stories and activities. This program encourages students to develop historical inquiry skills while exploring sustainability and cultural heritage.
About this excursion
This program focuses on the ‘Community and Remembrance’ History content. Students will visit The Rocks to see how the community has changed over time and learn about the lives of four children from different time periods. Through storytelling, games and site visits, students will learn about the traditional Gadigal Aboriginal people, convicts, former residents of Susannah Place (now a museum), and children from the modern era. The focus is on developing historical enquiry skills and integrating the Sustainability Cross Curriculum priority.
Key Inquiry Questions
- who lived here first and how do we know?
- how has our community changed? What features have been lost and what features have been retained?Excursion activities
Student pre-visit and follow-up activities
Successful excursions have direct links to current classroom learning. Pre-visit activities carried out before the excursion will help students better understand the excursion content and provide a sense of connectedness and relevance to classroom learning.
View the extensive excursion Support Website for information and activities to enhance students' understanding of the excursion content. Students can complete these activities either pre- or post-excursion. Teachers can download a student history journal from the website to further engage students.
Activities on the day
- Participate in a story about the traditional custodians the land, the Gadigal People, and learn a traditional Aboriginal weaving technique to develop an empathetic understanding of Aboriginal culture
- Visit Cadmans Cottage to learn about European colonisation of Australia, particularly the life of convicts
- Visit Susannah Place shop and house museum to learn about what life was like for people around 1910 (please note this visit incurs an additional cost per student, payable directly to Susannah Place. For more information on Susannah Place costings, visit: https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/education/programs/way-we-were. We can provide alternative activities as a substitute for this session.
- Visit Observatory Hill Park to participate in a game comparing and contrasting present and past lifestyles, including their effects on the environment
Important information
- Government Schools: $15 per student (GST-free)
- Non-Government Schools: $30 per student (GST-free).
Please note: If visiting Sussanah Place Museum, an additional entry fee applies (subject to availability); ring the Centre for information.
The Rocks, and Observatory Hill, Millers Point, Sydney.
View the Google Map with approximate walking route, meeting location and pick up location. Please note the bus drop off and pick up point is the bus bay at Argyle Place, at the base of Observatory Hill.
Key syllabus outcomes
describes and explains how significant individual, groups and events contributed to changes in the local community over time
applies skills of historical inquiry and communication
develop knowledge, understanding and empathy about people and cultures from different times and places, and how they may have lived and behaved differently from today
understand peoples impact on the environment, and how their use of it has changed over time.
develop an understanding of the inter-connections between people, cultures, societies and environments
Integrating the ‘Sustainability’ Cross Curriculum Priority is a feature of the program.
Skills outcomes
sequencing historical people and events
explaining how and why people in the past may have lived and behaved differently than today
encourage literacy skills in talking and listening.
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