Year 11 General Modern History

Our Year 11 General Modern History students have been immersing themselves in the history of Perth and the Kalamunda area. 

Very little local history is included in our Year 7–10 curriculum, so it has been a great opportunity to be able to explore our own history in Term 1 of this year.

Students have been learning about Noongar culture, Yellagonga, Midgegooroo and Yagan.  They’ve been engaging with the topical issue of how we acknowledge the colonization of Perth and role of Captain James Stirling – the good and the bad. 

As part of our studies, the students visited the State Library of Western Australia, where they were given a tour of the Battye Library, were able to touch replica primary sources, and view actual primary sources, that tell the history of Kalamunda. 

They toured through three galleries of the Western Australian Museum Boola Bardip and thoroughly enjoyed the cultural journey of Perth, particularly the “dancing through the ages” exhibit and the arcade games.

We are lucky to have the largest folk museum in Western Australia right at our doorstep and our students were treated to an excellent tour of the museum and got a taste of early European life in our area.  They were inspired to choose a topic for their inquiry appreciating the importance of the timber industry and seeing the operation of the fruit grading machine in the Orchard Shed. 

Whadjuk country has a deep history and as always with a study of history, the connections of the past with our present day enrich our lives and help us understand our place in the world.