Primary Schools
Urrbrae House | PRIMARY SCHOOLS PROGRAM
The Free Free History Program for Primary Schools
Our Primary Schools Program, run on Wednesday mornings during school term, is designed to enable primary school students in Years 4-6 to step back into the recreated world of 1892.
- What was it like to be a servant in South Australia in 1892?
- What sort of school lessons did Victorian children have?
- What was it like to be a lady or gentleman visiting the wealthy pastoralist Mr Peter Waite and his wife Matilda, the owners of the grand Urrbrae House built in 1891?
Students are able to find out through our unique interactive history program held at Urrbrae House which today is an accredited museum and part of the University of Adelaide’s Community Engagement at the Waite Campus.
It is a great excursion option for a group of up to 30 students with costumed guides (who have police checks) taking students through a range of nineteenth century activities in the House.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS |
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| PRIOR TO YOUR VISIT | IMPORTANT Please read | Teachers Information Sheet | |
| INFORMATION & CLASS RESOURCES |
Please visit our | Teachers Resource Page | |
PROGRAM BOOKED OUT for Term 1, 2012 please contact Amanda Jackson ph: 8303 7497 or email: Amanda Jackson |
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WHAT HAPPENS ON THE DAY
On arrival at Urrbrae House students are divided into three smaller groups:
- Guests of Mr and Mrs Waite
- Household Servants
- Schoolchildren
Each group is then taken through different activities befitting their nineteenth century status and given a tour of the House. Each student is also given a Victorian name and a piece of costume to help them become a character in 1892.
Guests of the Waites | Experience a formal morning tea in the Dining Room and undertake leisure activities appropriate to ladies and gentlemen such as croquet on the lawn (depending on weather), quoits, parlour games, dominoes, flower-pressing and sketching.
Household Servants | Take on the many manual tasks that were essential to the running of a large Victorian household such as preparing and serving food, doing laundry using washboards, cleaning silver, polishing boots, beating rugs and churning butter.
Schoolchildren | Are taken through a school lesson by the governess that includes copperplate writing using inkwells and nib pens, and learning about Victorian values. The children are also given the opportunity to play with reproductions of late nineteenth century toys such as porcelain dolls, china tea sets, wooden tops, marbles, quoits, jacks, and pick-up sticks.
After each group has finished their activities and morning tea, all children come together and play a game of "signalman".
Please note | Younger groups can be accomodated with a modified program
TESTIMONIALS
'My favourite bit was the morning tea and writing with the ink pens.
This was the best excursion I've been on'
Master Solomon, Black Forest Primary School
'We played Croquet, had a tour around the house, ate delicious food
and dressed up in very lady like clothes. as soon as I stepped into the house
I knew I was going to enjoy it from the very start... I also wish I lived there!'
Miss Constance, Bellevue Heights Primary School
