Step back in time

A glimpse of schooling from the past, the NSW Schoolhouse Museum is a popular excursion venue for schools. With a hands-on focus, students interact with objects and artefacts and experience early school life. They use skills of historical inquiry to investigate the past – Communication in the Past, Present and Past Family Life, The Past in the Present, Community and Remembrance. 

The NSW Schoolhouse Museum was the first building of North Ryde Public School. The original schoolroom was built in 1877 for 45 pupils with extra rooms built in 1893 and 1910. Housed in restored early schoolrooms, the museum collects and preserves objects relating to the history of public education in NSW. 

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Wallumedegal Peoples of the Darug Nation, the Traditional Owners of the land on which the NSW Schoolhouse Museum stands. We pay our respect to Elders past and present. We recognise the continuing learning systems of Aboriginal Peoples on this land and acknowledge the impact of past government policies on the education of Aboriginal children in New South Wales.

 

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A map of roads and train tracks made of felt. Children are pushing a wooden train with a mail sack on the train track.

We’re new HSIE syllabus ready

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Our School Communication in the Past program supports the new 2024 Stage 1 HSIE syllabus topic ‘The way people communicate has changed over time’. We’ve kept the favourite activities, re-focused our displays and created some new immersive experiences. Hands on and engaging with historic objects, students write with ink pens and ink, use early duplicating […]

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School Communication in the Past

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New Stage 1 program – School Communication in the Past.  Immersive and hands-on, students will engage with stories, images, objects and sites spanning the 1870s to 1970s. More detail in Learning experiences and Typical visit. Sample excursion plans coming soon. Bookings for 2025 are being taken.

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Objects of School Days Past

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Dip into our new online resource Objects of School Days Past to examine artefacts created and used in primary schools between 1870 and 1980. We have featured 36 objects and 100 connected objects to tell the story of learning and teaching in NSW primary schools in the past.

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