Royal National Park Environmental Education Centre

Telephone02 9542 1951

Emailroyalnatpk-e.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Jibbon journey

HSIE 2024 and History 2017 Syllabus

Terms 2 and 3 are ideal for this excursion - the weather is cooler and the position of the sun provides better visibility of the engravings.

Students walk across Jibbon Beach to Jibbon Headland, where they explore historical evidence such as the magnificent rock engravings, shell middens and oral stories.

Program feedback 

"The learning on the excursion tied in so well with the learning taking place in class and gave the students a practical and hands on way to experience the same content."

"Teachers were very relaxed and easy going which allowed students to discover the local environment and ask questions."

Learning activities

Students may: 

  • examine Aboriginal artefacts and infer their uses
  • walk through a timeline of Aboriginal occupation of 65,000+ years
  • visit the Aboriginal engravings at Jibbon Headland and consider their significance and the evidence they provide of Dharawal occupation
  • observe shell middens and learn about what they tell us about the past
  • explore food sources on the rock platform (tide dependant)
  • listen to a Dharawal Dreaming Story and discuss how stories are a type of historical evidence
  • paint using ochres to tell a story

Recommended excursion site 

Outcomes

  • Students describe and explain how significant individuals, groups and events contributed to changes in the local community over time (HT2-2)
  • Students describe and explain effects of British colonisation in Australia (HT2-4)
  • Students apply skills of historical inquiry and communication (HT2-5)

Content

History – community and remembrance

Students:

  • identify the original Aboriginal languages spoken in the local or regional area
  • identify the special relationship that Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples have to Country and Place
  • respond to Aboriginal stories told about Country presented in texts or by a guest speaker

History – first contacts

Students:

  • identify the original inhabitants of Australia and create a timeline indicating their longevity in Australia of more than 50,000 years
  • investigate, drawing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community representatives (where possible) and other sources, the traditional Aboriginal way of life, focusing on people, their beliefs, food, shelter, tools and weapons, customs and ceremonies, art works, dance, music, and relationship to Country

History uses sources to construct narratives of the past

Outcomes

  • describes Aboriginal Peoples’ obligations to Country, Culture and Community HS2-ACH-01
  • explains how people lived in the past, how navigation connected the world, and what life was like in the Sydney Cove penal settlement, using sources as evidence HS2-HIS-01

Content

Aboriginal Peoples have the oldest living continuous Cultures in the world

  • Examine how Aboriginal Peoples have engaged in Cultural exchange and trade across NSW
  • Investigate the interactions of individual Aboriginal People with traders and navigators from outside Australia
  • Examine NSW sites of archaeological evidence of the oldest living continuous Cultures in the world
  • Explain how the arrival of the First Fleet affected Gadigal Peoples