April 16th, 2019

WHY Q STATION IS THE COOLEST PLACE FOR YOUR NEXT SYDNEY SCHOOL EXCURSION!

A significant part of Australia’s history, Q Station provides  the perfect outdoor classroom where students can learn about First Contacts, Australia’s waves of migration, race, gender and  class segregation, and important medical and technological advances through the 19th and 20th century.
 
Located on a 30-hectare site on the North Head of Manly, Q Station is only a short ferry ride from Sydney CBD and boasts original buildings constructed between the 1870s and 1920s. With a range of educational programs across all stages and aligned to the NSW and Australian National Curriculum, Q Station is a must do for your next Sydney school excursion.

• Get up close with protected wildlife and native bushland

While Q Station has preserved the heritage buildings of the Quarantine Station, it is also home to native bushland and a range of protected wildlife, including little penguins, long-nosed bandicoots, 90 species of native birds, and the many creatures of the North Harbour Aquatic Reserve. The site also boasts varied flora including the rare sunshine wattle and eastern suburbs banksia scrub.
  

• Get hands on with artefacts and primary sources

Q Station’s Heritage collection is home to thousands of artefacts unique to the North Head Quarantine Station. Every education program includes the opportunity to handle and engage with original artefacts, to interact with primary sources and explore the natural and built environment.
 
Students can visit the replica cabins of the RMS Niagara to give them a sense of what sea travel was like 100 years ago, study the sandstone inscriptions and apply their skills of historical enquiry to consider what information can be gleaned from this source or enhance their learning experience by analysing one of our case studies- Immigration Detention or Operation Babylift.

•  Bring your classroom novel to life

​Start your excursion in the classroom by reading Felicity Pulman’s Ghost Boy and then follow the novel’s journey through your visit to Quarantine Station. Appropriate for Stages 2 - 4, students will see the story come to life as they learn about the differences between Tad’s world of the 1880s smallpox epidemic and their own.
 
Students will visit key locations within the text and the program is designed to challenge them to think about society’s changes from Tad’s time to now, by considering topics of migration, class, race and identity.

•  Site Investigation for Modern History

​The Quarantine Station is suggested as a site to investigate in the NSW Modern History Curriculum and a chapter is dedicated to the site in Modern History Transformed by Cambridge University Press - The Investigation of Historical Sites and Sources: Death, Disease and Division: The Quarantine Station. In our site investigation program, Stage 6 students undertake a close study of the site, its stories, artefacts, the built environment, primary and secondary sources to apply their skills of historical inquiry and to consider the interplay of historical evidence, argument, interpretation, memory, intuition and bias. Changing phases of the site provide a microcosm of the development of Contemporary Australia. From a close study of the site, students develop a more refined analysis and interpretation of the broader developments that shaped the site, and an increased empathy for how those developments affected people who were here, as well as a deeper appreciation for the interplay between the individual, the community, the environment, politics, judgement, and differing perspectives that shape the world today.

•  Make it an overnight stay

​For those wanting their students to have a fully immersive excursion, our former Doctors & Nurses Quarters can sleep a maximum of 24 students and supervisors in dormitory style accommodation. It’s a great way for students to explore in-depth the natural surroundings and historical significance of the site. An overnight stay also gives the opportunity to join a Ghost Tour where you’ll discover more intriguing stories of Q Station’s history and its eccentric characters.
 
School excursions at Q Station allow students of all ages from primary to tertiary, to experience an important part of Australia’s history through themes of migration, medical advancements, class, gender, and race segregation and technological advancements through 19th and 20th century. With lots of hands on experiences students can explore a range of primary and secondary sources, within natural and manmade environments.  So next time you’re planning a Sydney school excursion make sure to add Q Station to your itinerary.