McCrae Education Program

Education program VIC

Students experience two perspectives of how life would have been at McCrae Homestead through European and Indigenous cultural heritage interpretation.

Discover a unique experience at the McCrae Homestead by exploring the parallel experiences of the McCrae family and the Bunurong community in the 1840s. Accessed through Georgiana McCrae’s personal diaries, her son George McCrae’s diary accounts, family letters, sketches and paintings, the program shares what is anecdotally considered a mutually respectful relationship between the Bunurong people and the McCrae family. This interpretation is supported by the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation and is one that we have permission to share.

Cross-Cultural Program

Foundation – Level 6

Join our educators for a day of hands-on historical fun and discovery at McCrae Homestead.

Step back in time to learn about the lives of the Bunurong people, who have lived in the area for tens of thousands of years, learning some of their creation stories, exploring various painted symbols and their meanings as well as visiting a Willum (hut) on site. This activity invites students to consider the change that occurred for First Peoples post-colonisation, as well as the change in the landscape of the Mornington Peninsula.

Explore the 1840s homestead, discuss the McCrae family’s reasons for choosing to settle in Australia, and discover how children in the 1800s played, learned, entertained themselves, slept, went to the toilet, and ate, comparing the McCrae’s experiences to those of your own.

Get ready for some hard work, visiting the old kitchen and discovering how much effort went into something like making breakfast, churning some butter which you can then take home.

Jump into some old-fashioned games on the lawn, engaging in 1800s fun and frivolity with quoits, sack races and more!

Curriculum links for Foundation to Level 2

Subject	Strand	Sub-strand	Content descriptions	Students will…
History	Historical knowledge and understanding	Personal histories	differences in family structures and roles and how these have changed or remained the same over time	Uncover the societal pressures faced by families in the past, and how the life of the McCrae family differs from families today.
			VC2HH2K02
			differences and similarities between students’ daily lives and how these have changed or remained the same over time	Discover how children in the past played and identify some similarities as well as some differences.
			VC2HH2K03
		Community histories	the history of a local historical site of social, cultural or spiritual significance and how it has changed over time	Learn about the social significance of McCrae Homestead, and the Cultural and Spiritual Significance of Wonga to the Bunurong people and how it has changed over time.
			VC2HH2K05
			the consequences of changing technologies on people’s lives at home, and the ways they worked, travelled and communicated in the past	Get their hands dirty, using 1800s domestic technologies to discover how they affected daily life and the differences to today.
			VC2HH2K06
	Historical Concepts and Skills	Continuity and Change	identify examples of continuity and change by comparing the past and present	Compare lives in the 1800s to lives in the present day.
			VC2HH2S05
		Causes and Consequences	identify the causes and consequences of changes	Discuss why the invention of new domestic technologies had an influence on daily life.
			VC2HH2S06
Design and Technologies	Technologies contexts	Food and fibre production	explore how plants and animals are grown for food, clothing and shelter	Explore how vital the landscape and agriculture was to both the Bunurong people and the McCrae family in ensuring they had enough food, discovering how milk was turned into butter in a practical demonstration.
			VC2TDE2C02
Intercultural Capability	Cultural Diversity		cultural diversity in familiar places, including the school and/or local community	Explore the cultural diversity of the local area.
			VC2CI2D01

Curriculum links for Levels 3 & 4

Subject	Strand	Sub-strand	Content descriptions	Students will…
History	Historical knowledge and understanding	Community, Remembrance and Celebration	causes and consequences of changes in a local community and the contributions and experiences of people from diverse backgrounds to a local community	Discover how the Bunurong people and the McCrae’s contributed to the local area.
			VC2HH4K02
		Early colonisation of Australia to c. 1800	different interpretations of the early colonisation of Australia, including why British colonisation is interpreted as an invasion, and Terra Nullius	Explore the meaning of Terra Nullius, and how the story of the Bunurong people, as told by the McCrae family refutes this claim.
			VC2HH4K10
	Historical Concepts and Skills	Causes and Consequences	describe the causes and consequences of change	Describe the cause of colonisation of Victoria, and the consequences for different people.
			VC2HH4S07
Intercultural Capability	Culture, Identity, and Belonging		understandings that can be gained from intercultural experiences, including a critical perspective on, and respect for, diverse cultures, including their own	Understand what the McCrae family learned from their interactions with the Bunurong people.
			VC2CI4C02	Hear about the McCrae family's interactions with the Bunurong people, and why it has been described as a mutually respectful relationship

Curriculum links for Levels 5 & 6

Subject	Strand	Sub-strand	Content descriptions	Students will…
History	Historical Knowledge and Understanding	Australia 1800-1900	the impacts of the development of colonies on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, local-born colonists and migrants, and on the environment	Discover the impacts of colonisation on the Bunurong people, and how the landscape has changed.
			VC2HH6K02
			the causes and consequences of people migrating to a colony from Europe and Asia and the perspectives, experiences and contributions of a particular migrant group within a colony	Understand the contributions of the McCrae family to the local area, and discover the causes and consequences for migration from Europe to Australia in the 1840s.
			VC2HH6K04
	Historical Concepts and Skills	Causes and consequences	explain the causes and consequences of significant events and developments	Explain the cause of colonisation to Victoria and the consequences for different groups of people.
			VC2HH6S08

Further Program Details

Available:	Monday-Friday during term time.
Duration:	4 hours - 10am-2pm.
Numbers:	minimum 20, maximum 50 students.
Teacher/carer:student ratio:	1:10
Resources:	Social script for parents and teachers of students on the autism spectrum. Teachers will receive a detailed resource pack that includes suggested pre- and post-visit activities upon booking.
Cost	2024 dates: $15 per student. 2025 dates: $17 per student.
Health & Safety	Click here to access the McCrae Education Task Risk Assessment document.
Accessibility:	The house and kitchen are wheelchair accessible. Some doorways are narrow, please get in touch for more information.
Bookings:	To book in: Online booking form For enquiries: Email bookings@nattust.com.au Phone: (03)9656 9889

McCrae Homestead was a brilliant excursion for our Grade Fives. It fitted perfectly into our unit of work on the development of colonial Australia. The entire four hours we spent there was highly organised, incredibly informative and very hands-on which you need to be with primary students. We'll definitely be returning next year!

Grade 5 teacher, Flinders Christian Community College, April 2024.

Virtual Resource - Heritage at your Touch

Take your students on a virtual tour at a real colonial house and meet the people who lived there and examine their things!

Learn about the family who built the McCrae Homestead

Show your students the pioneering life in one of Victoria's oldest homesteads built by the Mornington Peninsula's earliest European settlers.

McCrae Education Program

Address:

11 Beverley Road
McCrae 3938 VIC

Phone:

9656 9800

Email:

bookings@nattrust.com.au

What we offer:

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Simply fill in our booking form with your details to make a booking request

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McCrae Homestead was a fantastic excursion for our 1/2 students. It included local and Indigenous history, lots of hands on activities as well as seeing 'real life' history with all the original furniture and the homestead itself. Highly recommend!

Grade 1 & 2 teacher, St Joseph's School Sorrento, May 2024.