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Digital Classroom

Explore Australia's history at the National Library's Digital Classroom, aligned with the Australian Curriculum. With over 10 million items, we support diverse learning styles, fostering inquiry-based learning for students to analyse sources and draw conclusions about the Australian story.
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Ballerina Justine Summers strikes a pose for the camera. She is standing en point wearing a black tutu. She is standing infront of a textured curtain. She is staring directly at the camera.

Jim McFarlane, Justine Summers in "Divergence", the Australian Ballet, 1994, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136367403

On stage

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: The Arts for years 5 & 6 students.

Arts
Year 5
Year 6
Performing arts
A black and white photograph of a billboard advertising the 'Big Show of 1936', a variety performance

(1936). Frank Neil presents new international variety stars in the Big show of 1936. nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2404782107

Performing arts

Topic

Sydney’s first theatre was said to be opened in 1796 and was managed by Robert Sidaway.

Arts
Year 5
Year 6
Performing arts
A photograph of the Sydney Opera House during the day. The Opera House is framed by the hanging branches of a large tree. In the foreground is a wrought iron fence.

Don McMurdo, [Sydney Opera House], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-146290294

Stage performance

Topic

Drama in Australia is celebrated at all levels of skill and involvement. 

Arts
Year 5
Year 6
Performing arts
Dancers standing, crouching, and laying down holding balloons

Samuel Cooper & Adam Linder, Dancers on stage during dress rehearsal of Sydney Dance Company's Are we that we are, Sydney Theatre, Sydney, 2010, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-132086627

Dance

Topic

The history of dance performance in Australia, as with all the performing arts, precedes the arrival of settlers from other nations.

Arts
Year 5
Year 6
Performing arts
Kylie Minogue wearing a red dress and with her arms in the air

Matthew Sleeth, Australian singer Kylie Minogue performs at the Tour of Duty concert at Dili Stadium, East Timor, 21 December 1999, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-147368307

Music

Topic

One of the world’s oldest music traditions that is still performed is the bunggul ceremony. This can be seen annually at the Garma Festival held in Gulkula, a sacred site in north-east Arnhem Land. The Garma Festival runs for four days and observes the traditions and customs of the Yolngu people.

Arts
Year 5
Year 6
Performing arts
A detailed 1867 wood engraving illustrating Chinese miners engaged in ground-sluicing near Beechworth, Victoria. The scene captures a forested landscape with miners working along a wooden sluice system directing water through rocky terrain. The foreground features a still water pool, while the background shows cascading water and dense trees.

Nicholas Chevalier and Frederick Grosse, Chinese people ground-sluicing, near Beechworth, Victoria, 1867, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135653408

Gold and exploration

Topic

Explore the impact of migration during the gold rush and how people from around the world shaped Australian cities and industries and transformed the nation with this teaching resource.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
man working on huge gears

Wolfgang Sievers, The gears gears for the mining industry, Vickers Ruwolt, Burnley, Melbourne, 1967, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136505226

Documenting modern Australia

Module

This resource is aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Design and Technologies standards for Year 5 and 6. It draws on the Library’s Wolfgang Sievers Collection to explore how photography, design and industry have transformed modern Australia, encouraging students to investigate how technologies are developed, used, and understood in social and environmental contexts.

Humanities
Technologies
Year 5
Year 6
Architecture and design
Art, drawing and illustration
Photography
Science and technology
stacks of aluminium profiles

 Wolfgang Sievers, Aluminium profiles at Comalco's plant at Yennora, New South Wales, 1965, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-160295127

Modernism

Topic

Modernism was a cultural movement that influenced visual arts, architecture, music, literature and design in the first half of the twentieth century.

Humanities
Technologies
Year 5
Year 6
Architecture and design
Photography
Science and technology
Man leaning against gate

Wolfgang Sievers, [Photograph of Wolfgang Sievers], Berlin, Germany, 1991, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-161009403

Wolfgang Sievers

Topic

Wolfgang Georg Sievers, AO (1913–2007) was a well-known modernist photographer who documented Australian architecture and industry over a career spanning almost 60 years.

Humanities
Technologies
Year 5
Year 6
Architecture and design
Photography
Science and technology
Two boats with rope hanging between them filled with men, women and children coming from Vietnam

Michael Jensen, Vietnamese boat people, Darwin, 1977, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-149648567

Australian migration

Module

Discover how migration has shaped Australia’s diverse identity through stories from the first colonies, the gold rush, refugees and more in this learning module.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
A detailed historical map of Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, depicting early settlement areas, marked camps, and referenced landmarks such as gardens and marine camps. Includes a list of ship names from the First Fleet and geographical details.

Francis Fowkes, Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, in the County of Cumberland, 1789, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230578175 

The Colonies

Topic

Explore how the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, bringing convicts, soldiers, and settlers to Gadigal Country, marked a turning point in Australia’s history that initiated profound changes to the land and its peoples.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration
A colorful vintage poster promoting Australia as the "Land of Tomorrow." The illustration features a vibrant rural scene with a man riding a horse in the foreground, surrounded by sheep and blooming trees. In the background, a farmhouse with a red roof is set amidst rolling green hills, with a farmer driving a tractor and a windmill spinning. Smoke rises from the house's chimney, adding to the idyllic countryside feel. The words "Australia" and "land of tomorrow" are prominently displayed.

J. G & Australia. Department of Information, Australia land of tomorrow, 1950, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137199963

Selling the dream

Topic

Understand how advertising to attract migrants and visitors is linked to Australia's immigration policies with this teaching resource.

Humanities
Year 6
Migration and immigration

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