Education
Museum Africa - Grade 5
This tour takes place at Museum Africa in Lillian Ngoyi Street, Newtown and the content covers parts of the Grade 5 curriculum on Early Man in Southern Africa. Join us for a fun-filled morning at where we will look at how archeologists find evidence and how an archaeological dig works. Discover more about the lifestyles of The San, The Khoi and The African Farmer, see and handle Stone Age and Iron Age tools and examine an iron furnace. Learn about the discovery and mining of gold, the lifeblood of our city, Egoli. Enjoy discovering some of Joburg Firsts and see and learn something about the history of Museum Africa and the Newtown Precinct.
Arts & Crafts | Tour at The View – Grade 6
Experience a tour with a difference at The View, 18 Rockridge Rd, Parktown, where we examine the various arts and crafts which form part of our city’s heritage. Here the emphasis is on examining wonderful examples of different arts and crafts from the late 1800’s, including beautiful hand painted friezes and panels, wrought and cast iron, Art Nouveau tiles, fireplaces and woodwork. The children will also have an opportunity to do some lovely arts and crafts of their own. The View is the heritage home of diamond magnate Thomas Cullinan, who discovered the Cullinan diamond. Next door, at Hazeldene Hall lived his friend Charles Jerome whose interests lay in the development of coal mining. These two elegant houses recall a fascinating insight into our past history. As The View is now home to The Transvaal Scottish Regiment, we will also see some memorabilia from World War 1 and 2.
Northwards The Herbert Baker Walk – Grades 7 and 8
This action packed meander begins at the mansion, Northwards, 21 Rockridge Rd, Parktown, once home to the charismatic Josie Dale Lace and subsequently the legendary Albu family. This Herbert Baker mansion with its exquisite period furnishings provides a backdrop for romantic and captivating tales and also looks into the contrast in the lives of the Randlords compared to the mine workers and the large staff that looked after the house. Learners then wend their way down Rockridge Road, where they will learn about the origins of the suburb of Parktown after the discovery of gold in Johannesburg as well as the geographical positioning and changing land use of the area. As they walk down this Jacaranda lined street which showcases Sir Herbert Baker’s architectural talents and passion for South Africa, they will hear of the South African War (formerly called the Anglo-Boer War), some of its personalities and the beautiful Baker homes they lived in, including Baker’s own home, The Stonehouse with its hallmark shingled roof.
Now and Then Heritage Tour – Grades 3 and 4
This tour takes place at The Holy Family College, 40 Oxford Road, Parktown. Travel back over 100 years in a beautiful Edwardian school in Parktown, Johannesburg, wear pinafores and sailor suits over contemporary uniforms while having an English lesson in a 1905 attic classroom, complete with inkwells, dip pens, reading charts, dunce’s caps and cursive writing! Learn about the discovery and mining of gold, the lifeblood of our city Egoli in our old History classroom. Explore the magnificent architecture and interiors and have explained and experience the rationale behind the school’s turning circle at a time where transport was primarily by carriage or donkey- cart. Design and decorate a folder for your worksheets while learning about crafts from long ago.
Tour at The Johannesburg Zoo, Jan Smuts Avenue, Parktown
The Johannesburg Zoo is well over a 100 years old and the Heritage Foundation has an exciting new school tour where the children will hear how this beautiful area of parkland was given to the people of Johannesburg. They will discover how early animals were housed and much more! Why not combine your visit to The Zoo with this heritage tour which takes about 2 hours. After your picnic lunch you could take your children to the newer cages and see the vast improvement in the conservation and care of the animals. See the old elephant house, lion and polar bear cages and discover how, long ago, wild animals were considered a curiosity and they were housed in cages which best showed them off to visitors with little thought to their comfort and well-being. Some of the main attractions at The Zoo long ago were the elephant and camel rides.