Enrich your lesson plans with accurate information and excellent historical sources. You can download free books and learning activities from our website.
Education specialists and historians who work at the Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) have prepared these materials to present the stories and images of people who have served Australia in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
Hard copies of many of our books and resources should be available in your school library. Contact us at education@dva.gov.au to request hard copies for your school.
Kitbags for school services
Get resources for hosting Anzac Day or Remembrance Day services in your community. You'll find the Order of Service with flag protocols and Ode of Remembrance, plus ideas for music, speeches and student activities:
Why We Remember: P-3 Commemoration presentation
We created a presentation slide deck to explain the difference between 'celebration' and 'commemoration' to lower primary students and talk about the symbols related to Anzac Day and Remembrance Day in Australia.
Here They Come: A Day to Remember series
Big picture book
To explain commemoration, we published the 'big book' and learning activities booklet.
- The narrative explores different characters and their perspectives on Anzac Day through a mix of fictional characters, stylised illustrations and photographs.
The big book and its supporting educational materials align to the Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS).
Key concepts in the text include: commemoration, identity and diversity, citizenship and civic participation, community values, connections to the past, symbols, service and sacrifice.
Animated videos
We created a 7-minute animation of the big book story, as well as 8 short videos about common symbols of commemoration. The short videos are narrated by Australian author and cartoonist, Warren Brown. Each video is available to watch and share on YouTube, or to download as an MP4 file. We've also packaged them up as a digibook.
Digibooks
We created two digibooks that are easy to use on a smartboard or tablet:
- Here They Come-A Day to Remember digibook
- Symbols of Commemoration digibook
- Generations of Service: The Lovett Family Digibook
Symbols of commemoration
Uncover the hidden meaning of many traditions that we see during Anzac Day services by exploring our Symbols of commemoration.
In Their Own Words virtual lesson
With upper primary students, you can explore the richness of oral histories In the first lesson, Australian veterans talk about Anzac Day and what it means to them. World War II veterans reflect on Anzac Day
Stories of Service videos
We've created a series of 6-minute films that explain life in military service through the eyes of some extraordinary Australians:
- Damien Parer
- Ellen Savage
- Gordon Wallace
- Nancy Wake
- Reginald Wallace
- Weary Dunlop
Check out the Stories of Service series.
Century of Service series
A series of interesting reference books inspired by the qualities that Australian service men and women have displayed in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
- Ancestry:Stories of multicultural Anzacs
- Audacity-Stories of heroic Australians in wartime
- Candour: Stories in the words of those who served 1914-18
- Chivalry: Stories of the Royal Australian Air Force
- Comradeship: Stories of friendship and recreation in wartime
- Control: Stories of Australian peacekeeping and humanitarian operations
- Curiosity: Stories of those who report during wartime
- Decision: Stories of Leadership in the Services
- Devotion: Stories of Australia's Wartime Nurses
- Endurance: Stories of Australians in wartime captivity
- Independence: Stories of the Royal Australian Navy
- Loyalty: Stories of the Australian Army
- Patriotism: Stories from the Australian home front during the Second World War
- Resource: Stories of innovation in wartime
Other great resources for primary school students
- Australians on the Western Front: A Resource for Primary and Secondary Schools
- Chinese Anzacs
- Forever Yours
- Indigenous Service: A Resource for Primary Schools
- Investigating Gallipoli: A Resource for Primary Schools
- Keeping the Peace: Investigating Australia's Contribution to Peacekeeping
- M is for Mates: Animals in Wartime from Ajax to Zep
- Schooling, Service and the Great War
- We Remember Anzac: A Resource for Primary Schools