Now and Then

About the program

As students explore Elizabeth Farm, they will discover how the Macarthur family and their servants lived without running water, electricity or modern appliances.

Students will engage in a range of hands-on activities and object-based learning. They will:

  • wash clothes by hand
  • explore the kitchen garden to see what’s growing and discuss life in a time before supermarkets
  • write with a quill pen and ink, signing their name on a bookplate

As they are guided through the house, students will investigate how daily life for the Macarthurs and their guests differed from life today.

In the colonial kitchen, they will learn how food was kept fresh without refrigeration and how it was preserved. In the drawing room, they will discover how the family entertained themselves and their guests and how servants were summoned. Outside in the garden, students will have the opportunity to play 19th-century games such as hoops, skittles, quoits, and cup and ball.

Throughout the experience, they will be encouraged to ask and answer questions, think critically, and compare life ‘now and then’.

Prepare your group with an ‘Excursion introduction’, found under Resources. This introduction supports teachers, including those working with ASD students in integrated classrooms.

70 Alice Street, Rosehill NSW 2142

Elizabeth Farm

70 Alice Street, Rosehill NSW 2142
  • Wheelchair accessible
Cost (GST free)
From $200 for up to 20 students

See page for cost scale details

Duration
1 hour 30 minutes
Sessions offered
Monday to Friday

10am–11.30am

12.30pm–2pm

2.30pm–4pm

Maximum students
60 per session
Supervision ratios

The supervision ratio is 1:10 for primary groups and 1:15 for secondary groups. Teachers and parents attend free of charge at these ratios. One carer per student with special needs will be admitted free of charge

Additional visitor costs

Each additional visitor will be charged at the concession rate of $12

Browse all
Students wearing dress up costumes and laughing in the nursery.
Onsite

Child's Play

Students learn about what it was like to live at Vaucluse House for the wealthy family of William Charles and Sarah Wentworth, with their ten children and many servants