Shipwrecks Self-Guided Excursions
Dates
Monday to Friday during term
The WA Shipwrecks Museum welcomes self-guided school excursions.
Self-guided excursions of the permanent galleries are free and let you explore the WA Shipwrecks Museum at your own pace. Visit Exhibitions for more information about our permanent galleries.
Places are available Monday to Friday, but bookings are essential.
Activity resources are available below, including the popular precinct walking trail A Trek Through Time.
Bookings
We currently do not take online bookings for *self-guided school excursions. Please send an email to education@museum.wa.gov.au with the following details and we will begin to process your booking.
- Self-guided (or program name)
- Preferred visit date (and alternate if not available)
- Number of classes & student numbers in each class
- Teacher name, email and contact mobile
- School
We look forward to welcoming your students on an excursion soon.
*Self guided education bookings are free of charge and include general admission for those 15 and under, students 16-18 attending as part of an educational booking and accompanying teachers to a ratio of one adult to six students.
At the Museum: Self-guided activities
Our self-guided activities encourage students to engage with the whole museum, appreciate its collection in sometimes new or different ways, and consider what different sources of information can reveal.
Before your visit to the museum:
- Print off the desired number of worksheets and bring these with you on the day.
- Please provide your own clipboards and pencils if you choose to use them.
Upon arrival at the museum:
- Divide your class into small groups, each with a parent helper. Ensure parent helpers are briefed on the activity.
- Encourage groups to start at different points in the museum to avoid congestion.
- Students may need to read information panels as well as look at the objects to complete the tasks.
Back at school:
- You may wish to have students share their responses to the worksheets, or conduct further research on their findings.
Available student activity worksheets (for classes not participating in a facilitated session):
Years 2-3 – Past and Present [PDF 5.52MB]
Year 4 – Exploration and Discovery [PDF 1.94MB]
Year 4 – Exploration and Discovery with Answers [PDF 1.95MB]
A is for Artefact [PDF 978KB]
Object Analysis [PDF 1.04MB]
Teachable Moments [PDF 980KB]
A Trek Through Time
This fun walking trail between the WA Shipwrecks Museum and the WA Maritime Museum is filled with discovery, while providing historical and geographical knowledge and understanding.
Students participating in this program will:
- Walk in small groups between the WA Shipwrecks Museum and WA Maritime Museum
- Imagine what the locations would have been like 200 years ago
- Visit landmarks along the way such as Bathers Beach, The Roundhouse, Whalers Tunnel, CY O’Connor statue
- Debrief as a group at the WA Maritime Museum or WA Shipwrecks Museum
Find out more about A Trek Through Time
Let's C Freo
Step into the past and explore change, culture, commemoration and celebration on this walking trail through the streets of Fremantle, focusing on the Esplanade and Fishing Boat Harbour precincts.
Departing from the WA Shipwrecks Museum, students participating in this program will:
- Use old photographs to identify some of the ways that Fremantle has changed over the past few centuries, and discover some of the historical buildings and landmarks that have remained the same.
- Learn about the importance of Walyalup to Whadjuk Nyoongar people and discover some of the ways that Nyoongar cultures are acknowledged and celebrated in this area today.
- Reflect on the impacts of colonial arrivals
- Consider the thousands of migrants who arrived by sea in the 1800s.
- Look at local landmarks and learn about their connection to cultures.
- Find out how Fremantle’s rich multiculturalism is commemorated in the past and today.Students will also hunt through the Shipwrecks Museum with a fun bingo-style hunt for objects that relate to these same themes
This program is linked to the Year 3 HASS curriculum.
Find out more about Let’s C Freo trail around the WA Shipwrecks Museum and Esplanade precinct.
Explore the Let’s C Freo trail around the WA Maritime Museum and Victoria Quay precinct.