Kindergarten to Year 2

Bookings are essential for all school visits. If you would like to book a guided experience for your students, complete the Request a Workshop Form, call 9427 3202 or email ed@slwa.wa.gov.au. All guided and self-guided visits are free of charge.

Discover a world of stories, history and information to support classroom learning.  The State Library provides teachers and students with a wide range of resources, including extensive collections of primary source materials.

The staff in the Education Program at the Library facilitate a diverse program of guided and self-guided workshops suitable for Kindergarten to Year 2 classes. Students can explore and discover the Library’s collections, investigate Western Australian history and be creative with technology and storytelling.

But why bring your class on excursion to the State Library?

  • Our workshops and educational experiences can reinforce and invigorate classroom learning.
  • Students get access to experiences and primary source materials that they cannot get in the classroom.
  • Excursions teach students how to behave appropriately in public spaces, build resilience and citizenship skills.
  • Excursions are a chance for the teacher to step back and observe their students in action and develop relationships on a different level.

The workshops offered link directly to the Western Australian curriculum and are of a one hour duration.  Excursions to the State Library must be booked at least two weeks in advance and are free of charge.

Guided workshops that explore and discover the Library’s collections and research Western Australian history.

What can be found at the State Library? What treasures does it hold? Embark on a journey of discovery on this guided tour that introduces students to the collections and services of the State Library. 

Visit the Battye Library to explore the State Library’s collections of newspapers, photographs, maps and ephemeral items. Find out what the Library’s collections can tell us about life in the past. Next,  The Story Place and learn about storytelling, the services available for younger students and engage in an exhibition specially curated for children.  Finish your visit with a special story from one of our Education Officers.

Students will:

  • Engage with primary source materials.
  • Understand the role of the Library in preserving stories from the past.
  • Compare and contrast items from the past and the present.
  • Gain an understanding of the role of libraries in the local community.

Curriculum links

HaSS (Geography and History)

  • Skills: (VCGGC001), (VCGGC002), (VCGGC003), (VCHHC004), (VCHHC017),  (VCHHC028), (VCHHC030)

A box of fairy tale props, a digital camera and imagination is all that is needed to have fun with fairy tales.

Revise narrative conventions and work in groups to recreate classic stories.  Each group will read a different fairy tale such as: Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Man and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Students will then identify the main events of that story, carefully recreate each event using their box of props and photograph each scene along the way.

Ideas on how to use students’ photos to design news stories back in the classroom.

Remember to bring your own devices for Fun with Fairy Tales.

Students will:

  • Revise narrative conventions pertaining to fairy tales.
  • Identify the main events in a story.
  • Work as part of a team to make decisions and solve problems.
  • Understand what makes a good photo.
  • Use technology in context.

Curriculum links

HaSS (English and Technology)

  • (ACELT1577), (ACELT1578), (ACELT1831), (ACELY1654), (ACELT1581), (ACELY1656), (ACELT1584), (ACELA1447), (ACELT1832), (ACELA1453), (ACELA1463), (ACELT1590), (ACELT1593), (ACELT1593)

What was life like in the past?

Explore the State Library’s pictorial collection. Find out why the State Library collects photographs and what they explain about Western Australian history. Students will engage in examples of how Perth has changed over time. They will use photographs from the Library’s collection to identify change in technology, families, toys and architecture over time.  Students will use images from the Library’s collection to create a timeline of Perth, in the form of a souvenir postcard, to take home.

This is a fun, hands-on workshop comparing children’s lives today with those of the past.

Students will:

  • Engage with primary source materials.
  • Understand the role of the Library in preserving stories from the past.
  • Compare and contrast photographs from the past and the present.
  • Use terms indicating time like, ‘then and now’.
  • Create a visual timeline of a significant place

Curriculum links

HaSS (Geography and History)

  • Skills: (VCGGC001), (VCHHC001), (VCHHC004), (VCGGC019), (VCHHC015), (VCHHC029), (VCGGC043), (WAHASS03), (WAHASS01), (WAHASS04), (WAHASS05), (WAHASS07), (WAHASS08)

Self-guided visits provide flexible excursion options for all school groups. There are a variety of self-guided, educationally valuable activities available to choose from. Self-guided workshops can be used to enhance a guided workshop experience at the Library or be the sole purpose of your visit. Exhibitions are often supported with student self-guided trails and teacher guides to ensure a high degree of engagement and educational value.

The Olden Days

Students rotate through a series of hands-on activities that encourage them to look closely at photographs from the State Library collection and identify what they can tell us about the everyday life of the past.

This self-guided workshop is 45 minutes to 1-hour duration.

Fractured Fairy Tales

Get creative with retelling fairy tales.

Students read and understand how traditional fairy tales can be altered and turn a fairy tale on its head. They will make their own chatterbox to guide them when planning their own fairy tale with a twist.

This self-guided workshop is 45 minutes to 1-hour duration.

Exhibition – The Story Place

Exhibitions in The Story Place are specially curated for children. These exhibitions often feature artworks from the State Library’s collection of original picture book illustrations or historical photographic collection. Exhibitions are supported by self-guided trails, activities and teacher guides. Bookings essential. View our current exhibitions.

Exhibition - Ground Floor Gallery

Exhibitions in the ground floor gallery are designed with curriculum outcomes mind. With historical or literature-based themes, these engaging exhibitions provide opportunities to support learning outcomes.  Exhibitions are supported by self-guided trails, activities and teacher guides. Bookings essential. View our current exhibitions.

You can request an education workshop for school age students.
School children
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