# NSW Early Stage 1 HSIE Geography: People Live in Places > Teach the NSW Early Stage 1 HSIE Geography People Live in Places unit with classroom-ready Foundation lesson ideas, picture books, and inquiry tasks. ## NSW Early Stage 1 HSIE: People Live in Places In the NSW K-6 HSIE Syllabus, the Foundation year (Early Stage 1) introduces students to geography through one core unit: **People Live in Places**. It's the first time most five-year-olds have been asked to think systematically about the question 'where do you live?' — and the unit is one of the most rewarding to teach because it sits naturally with how Foundation students already see the world (the immediate, the concrete, the personal). This guide is for NSW Early Stage 1 teachers planning the unit, with practical classroom ideas, picture-book recommendations, and ready-made teacher resources. If you teach in another state under the Australian Curriculum v9 HASS, the equivalent content sits in the Foundation HASS strand under 'Places have features and meanings'. The NSW unit is more tightly defined as a single named unit; the AC v9 version is more strand-based. ## NSW Early Stage 1 HSIE Geography Resources _(Dynamic listing feed — browse at the page URL for live results.)_ ### What 'People Live in Places' actually covers The NSW Early Stage 1 Geography unit asks Foundation students to think about: - **The places they live** — home, suburb, town. What features make these places? Who lives there with them? - **How places are represented** — simple maps, photographs, drawings. The very first introduction to map-reading and map-making. - **Why places are special** — to themselves, to their family, to the broader community. - **Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connections to Country** — the very first introduction to the concept that the place where the school sits has been a meaningful place for tens of thousands of years before the school existed. - **How people care for places** — keeping rubbish out of the playground, looking after the garden, respecting Country. The unit is designed to take six to eight weeks and is typically taught in either Semester 1 or Semester 2 depending on whether the school's HSIE rotation is in Year A or Year B. Many schools teach it across both halves of the year in shorter blocks. ### Practical teaching sequence A workable Early Stage 1 sequence runs through three phases: 1. **Personal place** (weeks 1-2) — students draw their bedroom, their kitchen, their backyard. Teacher reads aloud picture books like *Are We There Yet?* by Alison Lester (a road-trip view of Australia in the format of a child's diary) or the opening spreads of *My Place* by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins (the 1988 spread is the most recent, and the book travels back through time from there). 2. **Local place** (weeks 3-5) — walking excursion around the school grounds. Photograph features. Make a class map of the school using big sheets of paper and stickers for landmarks. Discuss who else uses the school (parents, cleaners, the principal, the postie). 3. **Wider place and Country** (weeks 5-8) — introduce the concept of Country. Acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land your school is on. Read Aboriginal stories about Country. Discuss caring for Country and caring for the school. ### Picture books that work Foundation HSIE Geography is one of the units where picture-book read-alouds do the heavy lifting: - *My Place* by Nadia Wheatley and Donna Rawlins — the opening spreads (1988, 1978, 1968) are accessible to Foundation students even though the whole book is upper-primary. - *Are We There Yet?* by Alison Lester — a road-trip across Australia told as a child's holiday diary; perfect for the personal-place phase. - *Welcome to Country* by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy — essential for the Country and Aboriginal-perspectives strand. - *Possum Magic* by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas — uses Australian places as a journey, accessible read-aloud for Foundation. - *Big Rain Coming* by Katrina Germein and Bronwyn Bancroft — sense of remote place, Aboriginal community, and weather. ### Mapping and representing places Foundation students can absolutely make and read simple maps — the trick is starting concrete and personal. Begin with bird's-eye-view drawings of one small space (their classroom desk, their bedroom) before scaling up to the school. Most Foundation students can draw a recognisable bedroom map after a single guided lesson, and most can produce a school map in pairs over two sessions. Avoid commercial blank-map worksheets for Foundation — the act of drawing the map themselves is the learning. See the [hsie-geography-resources](/teacher-guides/hsie-geography-resources) guide for ready-made resources spanning all primary stages. ### Connecting to other Stage 1 HSIE work The Early Stage 1 'People Live in Places' unit is the foundation for Stage 1 HSIE Geography units (`Features of Places` in Year A, `People and Places` in Year B), which extend into Stage 2 ('Places Are Similar and Different') and Stage 3 ('Factors That Shape Places' and 'A Diverse and Connected World'). The conceptual through-line is *places, people, connections*. The earlier you can give Foundation students the language for talking about place, the easier the Stage 1 work feels in Year 1 and Year 2. The [hsie-resources-stage-1](/teacher-guides/hsie-resources-stage-1) guide covers the next-level units in detail. ### Aboriginal perspectives and Acknowledgement of Country Every NSW HSIE unit is expected to incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, and 'People Live in Places' is one of the most natural units in which to do this. Start with a daily Acknowledgement of Country (most schools already do this). Then teach the concept of Country explicitly — that the land your school is on belongs to a specific Aboriginal nation, that this nation has cared for this place for tens of thousands of years, and that we share this place today. Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group (AECG) representatives are usually willing to come to a class for a short visit and are an invaluable resource if your school has a relationship with them. ## Foundation Maps & Place Activities _(Dynamic listing feed — browse at the page URL for live results.)_ ## Aboriginal Perspectives & Country — Foundation _(Dynamic listing feed — browse at the page URL for live results.)_ ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does the NSW Early Stage 1 'People Live in Places' unit cover? It is the foundational geography unit in the NSW K-6 HSIE Syllabus, taught in the Foundation year (Early Stage 1). Students explore the places they live (home, suburb, town), how places are represented through simple maps and photographs, why places are special, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connections to Country, and how people care for places. The unit typically runs for six to eight weeks in either Semester 1 or Semester 2, depending on whether the school is in Year A or Year B of its HSIE rotation. ### Can Foundation students really make and read maps? Yes. Start concrete and personal. Most Foundation students can draw a recognisable bedroom map after a single guided lesson, and most can produce a class map of the school grounds in pairs over two sessions. Begin with overhead-view drawings of one small familiar space (their classroom desk, their bedroom) before scaling up. Avoid commercial blank-map worksheets for Foundation. The act of drawing the map themselves is where the learning sits, not in colouring in a pre-made outline. ### How do I incorporate Aboriginal perspectives in this unit? Aboriginal perspectives are central, not bolted on. Start with a daily Acknowledgement of Country (most NSW schools already do this). Teach the concept of Country explicitly. The land the school sits on belongs to a specific Aboriginal nation that has cared for it for tens of thousands of years, and students share this place today. Read picture books like Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy. If the school has a relationship with the local AECG, a short class visit from a representative is invaluable. ### How does this unit connect to Stage 1 and beyond? This unit is the foundation for Stage 1 HSIE Geography (Features of Places in Year A, People and Places in Year B), which then feeds Stage 2 (Places Are Similar and Different) and Stage 3 (Factors That Shape Places, and A Diverse and Connected World). The conceptual through-line is places, people, connections. The earlier Foundation students get fluent in the language of place, the easier the Year 1 to Year 2 work becomes. By Stage 1 they are already comfortable with maps, photographs, and the idea that different places have different features. --- Source: https://teachbuysell.com.au/teacher-guides/early-stage-1-geography-people-live-in-places Marketplace: https://teachbuysell.com.au