The Way Life Was

Tour Details
  • Duration: 90 minutes
  • Availability: Daily
  • Meeting Location: Rocks Square
  • Fitness Level: Basic, Moderate
  • Units: Present and Past Family Life; The Past in the Present; Community and Remembrance
  • Key Learning Areas: HSIE, History, Geography
  • Program: Primary School
  • Student Outcomes: HT1-1 to HT1-4; GE1-1; GE1-2; HT2-2
  • Years: 1 and 2, 3 and 4
  • Group Size: 30 students per group

A Significant Heritage of Sydney

Discover Sydney’s earliest neighbourhood, The Rocks and learn how families, lived, worked and played in the 19th century.

With their specialist local knowledge, our guides share with the children relevant accounts of past times beginning with the area’s local history.

Entertaining stories are expressed through historic events and by interpreting and exploring with the children the heritage-built features of The Rocks

Students are encouraged to analyse and compare lifestyles of yesteryear and today with the assistance of well researched images and significant sites

Additional details about the tour

On The Way Life Was tour, students explore what daily life was like for families living in The Rocks during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Walking through historic streets, cottages and laneways, they discover how working-class communities lived, worked and played in Sydney’s oldest neighbourhood.

Through storytelling, historic photographs and observation of surviving buildings, students compare past and present lifestyles. They learn about home life, work, schooling and the conditions families experienced in a busy inner-city community.

By examining real places and features of the built environment, students gain insight into how people adapted to their surroundings and how life in The Rocks has changed over time. This place-based experience helps students better understand everyday life in Sydney’s colonial past.

Tour Reviews

The Rocks walking tour in Sydney is a fantastic experience for students, parents, and teachers alike. I highly recommend it to history enthusiasts and anyone eager to understand Sydney’s origins through a lively and informative outdoor experience.
The stories shared during the tour were riveting and delivered in an engaging manner. Walking in the footsteps of our forebears—touching the stones they carved and visiting the buildings they built, lived in, and worked in—made the experience all the more captivating. The heart-wrenching tales of struggles with rats, disease, and challenging living conditions made us reflect on how fortunate we are to be born 200 years later, while also admiring the endurance and tenacity of those early settlers.
This tour truly connects participants to the past and provides insights that simply can’t be found on a screen or in a book. This is the second year I have brought a group of Stage 2 and Stage 3 students on the tour, and I look forward to bringing another group next year—it’s well worth it.
Congratulations to The Rocks Walking Tour team for delivering such a memorable and educational experience!

Candace McVeity
Bega Valley Public School

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Video Highlights

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