Photos from the past 

What can photos from the past tell us? 

Learning intention – We are examining old photographs to learn about the past.

Success criteria – We can describe what we see in a photograph and state ideas about its setting and purpose.

Photos of students in the past 

(See-Think-Wonder Google Slides template adapted from NSW Department of Education Digital Learning Selector - Thinking Skills)

See 

Think

Wonder

Open cart carrying children, pulled by a horse. School buildings in background.
School students travelling by horse-drawn cart to Bermagui Public School, 1920NSW State Archives on Flickr. No known copyright restrictions.
Three young boys on a pony. One carrying a school bag.
Students  from Coreinbob  Public School, probably brothers, travelling to school on their pony, 1920NSW State Archives on Flickr. No known copyright restrictions.
Two small children hold a Union Jack flag, one small boy salutes
Infants students from Blackfriars Public School in the playground saluting the flag, 1923NSW State Archives on Flickr. No known copyright restrictions.
Girls and boys playing with hoops and skipping ropes on the grass in front of a school. The children have bare feet.
Fernleigh Public School playground, circa 1959NSW Schoolhouse Museum collection
Ten young girls and boys standing in lines and holding dumb bells at shoulder height.
Young students holding dumb bells, Hanleyville  Public School, 1900. Dumb bells were used in exercise drills and routines.NSW State Archives on Flickr. No known copyright restrictions.
50 girls and boys in rows outside a brick building. Some holding dolls.
Class 2A Botany Public School, 1925. Teacher Mr Davies. NSW State Archives on Flickr. No known copyright restrictions. 
Girls and boys sitting at desks with their arms behind their backs.
2nd Class students in their classroom, Cootamundra Public School, 1933NSW State Archives on Flickr. No known copyright restrictions.
Ten boys standing behind a long horizontal pole with a flag on the end with the word 'stop'
Croydon Park Public School road safety team, 1936. The pole was held across the road to stop vehicles so students could cross.NSW State Archives on Flickr. No known copyright restrictions.

Step into the photo

Hot seat

Individually or in pairs:

1943 aerial photographs 

Use SIX Maps to examine your school and local area in 1943.

It was wartime then and aerial photographs were taken of all of Greater Sydney. 

How to view the 1943 imagery:

On the current image of North Ryde Public School we can see the outline in the grass of where a big house was in 1943!


Road, paddocks, orchards, houses, buildings laid out like a map
Aerial photograph of North Ryde Public School, 1943. SIX Maps. Spatial Services, NSW Government
The only school buildings in 1943 are the four rooms of what is now the Schoolhouse Museum. The 1877 teacher's house is on the left. The old St John's Church is on the right. 
North Ryde was farmland in 1943. Can you see the orchard?
Banner image – North Ryde Public School, 3rd and 4th Class, 1918