Understanding past uses and vegetation cover of the school grounds can be used to inform decisions about enhancing biodiversity and managing the land into the future.

Illustrated timeline

Produce an illustrated timeline of your school site that describes:

• how Aboriginal people may used the site in the past
• how the site is used by Aboriginal people today
• how the school grounds might have looked pre-colonisation
• the original main plants or plant communities
• past landforms such as creeks, swamps and wetlands
• what animals that may have lived there
• past uses of the site, evidenced through photographs, maps and oral histories
• remains of past uses such as old stone walls, historic buildings or orchard trees.

Resource people

Organisations that may be able to help identify the local plant community and provide site history include your local:

• Aboriginal Land Council
• council’s bushcare officer, bushland management officer, landscape manager or environmental officer
• bushcare or environmental community group
• expert from a native plant nursery
• long-term residents of the area
• historian or librarian.

Syllabus content

Researching the history of the school grounds uses historical inquiry skills and could be undertaken as part of a local site study in support in the History K-10 Syllabus in:

• Stage 1 The past in the present – history of a site in the local community
• Stage 2 Community and remembrance – example of change and continuity in the local community
• Stage 4 Investigating the ancient past – range of sources used in an historical investigation.