Australia’s first history podcast for the classroom

A podcast mapped to the Australian curriculum for Stages 2 and 3 history, designed for classroom use.

Each episode has music, immersive sound and stories from Australia's top historians and experts.

Ready to use

Teachers can use each episode to listen in class for primary school history Stages 2 and 3, with

  • Learning Materials

  • a guide for the Australian and state curriculums, and

  • Scope and Sequence outlines.

⬇️ Teachers, download these resources and read more. ⬇️

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A history podcast for kids that follows the Australian history curriculum

Episodes

  • Hey History podcast tile: a yellow map of Australia with Hey History! text, and the logos of UTS and Impact Studios

    Introducing... Hey History!

    A podcast for kids age 8-12 about Australian history with stories, music, and immersive soundscapes.

    The podcast follows Stage 2 and 3 of the Australian curriculum, and of NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland.

    Students can listen in class and use our Learning Materials designed and road-tested by a primary school educator.

    Hey History! is made by history professors, so you'll hear from Australia's top historians and experts. It's produced by The Australian Centre for Public History and Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney, in partnership with La Trobe University.

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  • Pieces of red ochre of different sizes on a white background. Image courtesy of National Museum of Australia

    Ep 1 The oldest classroom

    How did First Nations people learn before books, school and the internet?  What are some of the teaching places on Country? Can a cave or a beach be a classroom? 

    Wayne Brennan and host Axel Clark visit a very old rock shelter on Dharug and Gundungurra Country. Merrikiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs invites us into her classroom at Yirrkala Bilingual School in North East Arnhem Land. 

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  • Gweagal fishing spears on a black background. Reproduced with the permission of the Dharawal and La Perouse community, and Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, formerly MAA D 1914.1-4

    Ep 2 First meetings at Kamay Botany Bay

    In 1770, Captain Cook got secret instructions to find the ‘Great South Land’. His ship The Endeavour sailed into Kamay Botany Bay, the land of the Gweagal people.

    How did the Gweagal people meet Captain Cook and his crew? What happened over the eight days that Captain Cook stayed in Botany Bay?

    Ray Ingrey and Paul Irish, along with Captain Cook’s own diary, tell the story of this first meeting, answer kids’ questions, and reflect on how it went.

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  • Convict love token from J. Fletcher. Image courtesy of the National Museum of Australia.

    Ep 3 Convict kids

    Why did kids get transported from Britain to Australia? What were their crimes? Did they miss their families?  

    Hamish Maxwell-Stewart and Marcelle Mangan tell the story of transportation, convict tattoos and tokens, and convict life at the Cascades Female Factory in Hobart.

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    Ep 4 Gold Fever

    What were the Gold Rushes? Why did people from all over the world get ‘gold fever’?  

    What was life like on the Ballarat goldfields of Victoria, on Wada Wurrung Country? 

    Professor Fred Cahir, Andrew Pearce, Sarah Van de Wouw and an oral history about a Chinese miner share different experiences of goldfields life.

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    Ep 5 Bonus: How to talk with kids about Australian history

    A bonus episode for teachers, carers and parents featuring Professor Anna Clark and Professor Clare Wright. They tackle questions like how can kids in primary school work with history’s complexity and how to encourage kids when they're interested in history but get some facts wrong?  

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