Year 9 History Excursion

On Wednesday the 12th of October the Year 9 history classes attended an excursion to the State Library and the ANZAC War Memorial in Hyde Park to help them with their study of World War One. Students participated in a range of activities including piecing together a soldier’s war experience from items he brought back from the war, watching a play that re-enacted the letters and diaries of WW1 nurses, a guided tour of the memorial, letter writing activities and the analysis of photos and diaries as historical sources. Here are some of the student’s reflections from the day.

‘I thought that the nurse’s verbatim play was the most effective teaching device during the day as it brought history on paper to a real person which helped me better understand and experience what it was like to be in the war.’

‘I thought the most helpful activity we did was the suitcase activity where we were shown artefacts from a soldier in World War I. I found it very interesting to learn more about the personal life of a specific individual who fought in the war.’

‘The ability to see primary artefacts up close and hold them gave a new insight into what the lives of the soldiers were like.’

‘My favourite part was the tour around the memorial and seeing the statue “sacrifice”. It was deeply compelling and summarised all that we learnt about the consequences of war.’

‘I thought the artefacts activity was the most interesting because I wondered what items historians would use to discover who I was.’

‘I got to handle precious and rare artefacts dating back to the early 20th century that fascinated me.’

‘Yesterday’s excursion really helped me learn and understand aspects of World War I (WWI) on a more personal and emotional level.’

Melinda Wark

History Teacher