Victoria’s 1850s goldrush heritage is alive, exciting and very hands-on at Sovereign Hill with creative, stimulating and interactive experiences for students of all ages.
Student experiences can be indoors, outdoors, above ground or below ground, providing tremendous variety and ensuring a fun and action packed excursion or camp.
Sovereign Hill provides a range of innovative, 'hands-on' learning experiences for students from Foundation to Tertiary levels.
A variety of opportunities for school groups
Our programs are developed and delivered by Sovereign Hill Education officers, who are all experienced teachers. We provide unique on-site sessions, Discover it Yourself programs and education materials suitable for all students. Your entry fee to Sovereign Hill opens the door to a range of fun educational activities. We will help you develop a program tailored to your curriculum, area of study or student interests.
Through immersion in an extended two-day role-play, students learn about the differences between their own lives and education and the experiences of their counterparts on the Victorian goldfields. Costumed role-play and observation of 1850s etiquette help students re-create the lives of these children.
During lessons with qualified teachers, students use slate pencils, dip pens and ink. Based on the Irish National School Curriculum, which was widely used in Australia during the 1850s, the school day may include reading, writing, poetry, arithmetic, grammar and geography. At recess, students enjoy 19th century games with marbles, spinning tops and knucklebones. Visits to some of the trades and businesses within Sovereign Hill’s township further enrich their experience and understanding of goldfields life.
Interactions with a variety of characters who ‘live’ in the township are an integral part of the program.
The experience offers students the opportunity to fully adapt to, and appreciate, the significant changes required to ‘walk in the shoes’ of youngsters of the time. Visiting teachers are also costumed and join our schools in a variety of roles, affording an opportunity to engage with their students in this unique context.
Find out moreNarmbool education programs are presented in purpose-designed learning facilities on our historic pastoral property at Elaine, only 30 minutes drive from Ballarat or 90 minutes from Melbourne. Experienced teachers offer curriculum-centred, interdisciplinary programs focussing on environmental, historical and Indigenous education.
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Welcome to education at the Gold Museum, your window to over 150,000 items of cultural and historical significance that tell a wide variety of stories from ancient history to today, with a special emphasis on the goldfields and colonial history in our region. Students can see real gold nuggets and explore scientific, technical, and primary source documents and art works as evidence of life on the goldfields.
Sovereign Hill is proud to be a strategic partner with the Catholic Education Commission (CECV) of Victoria. In 2019, Catholic schools spent over 19,000 student days at Sovereign Hill, our Costumed Schools program and/or at Narmbool.
Click here to download our flyer and find out what we offer especially for Catholic schools.
Education and training bodies are permitted to copy material freely provided acknowledgement is made of the source. Written authority must first be obtained from The Sovereign Hill Museums Association if you wish to charge others for access to the material, or if you modify, repurpose or alter the published material in any way.
