Visiting The Rocks and The State Library
Last week, Ms Gordon and Ms McNerney’s Year 4 students set off for a walking tour of The Rocks, followed by a visit to the State Library.
Dressed as convicts and officials of the First Fleet, including Governor Arthur Phillip, Surgeon John White and Lieutenant Watkin Tench, the students explored The Rocks accompanied by guides, developing their knowledge and understanding of Australia’s colonial past.
Highlights of the tour included walking down the Suez Canal.
It was the main sewer of the settlement and narrows as it meets George Street.
They also visited the site of the first hospital in the settlement, Cadman’s Cottage 1816, which is one of the oldest remaining buildings in The Rocks, and walked around Campbell’s Cove.
As they progressed along the tour, the students learned the stories behind the early European settlers they were impersonating.
They paused to watch the busy ferry traffic at Circular Quay and were excited to see vessels named after some of the First Fleet ships, such as Charlotte, the ship which carried many of the female convicts in 1788.
They then headed on to the State Library, where the students had the opportunity to closely examine some replica artefacts from the Indigenous peoples of the Sydney area.
They learned some words from the Gadigal language, and also discovered that the letters and journal entries of the officers in the early settlement of Sydney are known as primary sources of information and tell us about how the Indigenous people were impacted by the arrival of the First Fleet.
They re-enacted the story of a convict called William Brown, who had a colourful career as a convict, including a sentence on Norfolk Island, before eventually being emancipated. Before leaving, they were visited the Mitchell Library Reading Room, a beautiful, book-lined space where they saw original convict leg irons, kept in a glass case, which looked incredibly heavy and uncomfortable.
Elodie and Sophie said, “We really enjoyed this special day so much that we would love to share it with you. Our excursion included dressing up as either a free settler, a convict, Governor Philip or a trader. For the first part of our excursion we went on a walking tour around The Rocks. We all got a chance to dress up as a character and find more information about them. There were characters such as Mary Riebey (she is the person on the $20 note), Francis Greenway (an architect, also on the $10 note) and many others. We saw the oldest cottage in New South Wales and some of the 11 ferries named after the ships from the First Fleet. We found out many jobs that people had to do here like being a servant, a maid, an architect or a builder.
For the second part of our excursion we went to the NSW State Library. At the learning centre there, we learnt about early settlers, convicts and Aboriginal items. These items included a coolamon, kangaroo skin, fishing traps and a digging stick. They were all made from natural materials. We took part in a short play about William Brown, Thomas White, John Gold, the Governor’s aide de camp and the free settlers. William Brown and the other convicts were transported to Australia for committing a crime. They all became friends. Then William Brown tried to escape, got whipped and put on the road gang with leg irons on his feet 24/7. The free settlers were the people who chose to come and live here.”
Amalia and Sophia said, “At The Rocks, we learnt lots about the history of Australia. We dressed up as convicts, mariners and settlers from the First Fleet. This helped us understand how it was for people at that time. Along with our costumes, we had name tags that told us about who we were and what we did to end up in Australia. We walked around places where some of our characters had lived or visited. We found out the life stories of different historical characters in Australia. We went to the State Library after dressing up and had a lesson about Australian history and life for the Aborigines before the First Fleet came. We looked at some Aboriginal belongings, guessed what they are and learnt what they are. After that, we walked around on our way to the exit looking at interesting, historical objects. Year 4 had lots of fun and learnt a lot on The Rocks walking tour.”