The Rocks Site Study and Historical Inquiry

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land where the City of Sydney now stands, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.

We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander people continue to play within the City of Sydney today

This website is designed to support your learning and understanding of the S5 History topic '1b. Movement of peoples (1750 - 1901), and skills in understanding and interpreting a historical Site Study. It also supports the 2020 Elective History syllabus topic of an historical inquiry of one time period and place (colonial transportation to Sydney) in a modern society (Australia).

Teachers: Did you know you can book a one hour virtual site study presentation with Observatory Hill EEC? Just ring the Centre on 9247 7321 to reserve a session at a time that suits your teaching and learning program. You can also find the Rocks Site Study program on DART Connections

Alternatively you can book a whole day site study excursion in The Rocks. Ring the Centre on 9247 7321 to make a booking.

painting of Governor Phillip raising the British flag at Circular Quay

Source: Captain Arthur Phillip (1738 - 1814) of the Royal Navy raises the flag to declare British possession of New South Wales at Sydney Cove, Australia, Jan. 26, 1788. Hulton Archive / Getty Images

The movement of peoples / Colonial Sydney

This website is designed to help you understand the History topic 'The movement of peoples', and site study skills. For the 2020 Syllabus, it also provides in-depth study of the major features of a particular time period and place in a modern society, that is the colonial transportation period from 1788-1863 in Sydney Australia. The site explains key features of this time period, sequencing major events to show an understanding of continuity, change and causation, and explaining how people of the past were influenced by different values, attitudes and motives.

Picture of students in Dawes point Park looking at the harbour

Students undertaking a Rocks Site study with Observatory Hill EEC

The Rocks Site Study

What is a site study?

A site study is an inquiry-based examination of an historically significant location. Site studies may include an investigation of the local area, or a visit to an archaeological site, museum, an Aboriginal site, a specific building, a monument, a local area, an open-air museum or a virtual site available through ICT. You are doing a site study through a virtual site. Click the video links tab above to learn more about The Rocks and its connections with some characters from the colonial transportation period.

Some examples of Site Studies include:

  • Aboriginal sites

  • archaeological sites

  • cemeteries

  • heritage buildings

  • houses

  • memorials

  • monuments

  • museums

  • statues

  • streets and streetscapes

  • suburbs, towns, villages

  • virtual sites

Sydney Cove: A Journey Through Time

Source: Youtube