Island by the City: Manly Quarantine Station and the North Head

Over the last few days I've been at the Quarantine Station at Sydney Harbour's North Head, writing and workshopping poetry as part of a writer's retreat run by the indefatigable Kerri-Jane Burke. The station (styled as 'Q-Station' by the organisations that maintain and staff the area) occupies a unique position in Australia's landscape as a heritage-listed historical site situated within the confines of Sydney Harbour National Park. The Quarantine Station itself operated for 150 years until 1984 and is now known as a hotspot for ghost tours and historical preservation, and provides the perfect backdrop for creative observation.

What struck me most about this location was the extreme contrast between the surrounding harbour, with all its buildings and skyscrapers and landmarks crowded along the coastline, and this little three-point-odd square kilometre pocket of history and nature. Between the colonial huts, unmarked one-way roads, and general hilliness and isolation, the Q Station feels like a self-sufficient island. There's something incredible and mildly shocking about standing on an incline, staring out across the water at the city lights with that distinctive Centrepoint skyline, and being surrounded by dense foliage that shelters a Ringtail Possum with a joey on its back just a few centimetres from my arm. 

Here are some pics and observations from the last few days:

The Boiler Room

In the background you can see a big smoke stack chimney; this is 'the Boiler Room', the upmarket restaurant situated within the Quarantine Station. Businesses such as this help to supplement the funding of the heritage site (which goes beyond the remit of National Parks NSW). Many of the buildings in this area date from the 1830s, and the Boiler Room is situated near the wharf where ships would unload their passengers for quarantine purposes. Across it's 150 years some 500+ people died here, which actually isn't that much when you consider that the site serviced 13 000 arrivals in its time of operation.

Engravings

The rocks near the wharf are covered in hastily-made engravings representing the years of arrivals at the Quarantine Station, and indicate the vast array of ships and cultures that passed through here. The RMS Lusitania mentioned above isn't the same one from WWI, it's an earlier ship that the later one was named after. Note also the flag scratched in by some early Japanese arrivals. The rocks also feature inscriptions from Arabic and Chinese passengers who alighted here in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and are a wonderful insight into the early beginnings of Australia's multiculturalism.

Shower Block

Pictured above are the First Class shower blocks (you can tell that they're first class because the dividers go all the way up rather than to waist height). Upon arrival the passengers would be told to remove all items and clothes, wash themselves in carbolic acid whilst being watched by quarantine staff, and then come back to clothes that had been blasted-free of assumed diseases. Prior to this shower system (implemented circa the late 19th century) the arrivals would watch all their possessions get put to the flame on the beach. 

Sterilisation

By most accounts, the process of sterilisation at the Quarantine Station was imprecise in the early 19th century due to the pervading belief in the miasma theory. Later in its history, in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, there were these huge lockable vaults where everything was railroaded in and exposed to extreme steaming. Clothes would survive but imagine the effect on cardboard-lined suitcases and books...

Hospital

What you see above are the actual beds used in the early 1900s, which have been preserved in the Quarantine Station Hospital at North Head. Circa 1918, these beds were home to many returned WWI soldiers suffering from Spanish Influenza.  Other common diseases of the time were Scarlet Fever, Typhus, and Smallpox.

Graveyard

There are three graveyards at the Quarantine Station, only one of which still retains its headstones. The above image shows the location of the one of the cemeteries that no longer has markers for the graves.

Third Cemetery 

These gravestones are found on the other side of the Head and contain those who passed away at the Quarantine Station during the turn of the century and earlier. It's a very quiet spot, and there is still a lot of archaeological work being done here to establish identities for the worn-away sandstone headstones. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the cemetery is the way it looks over the harbour and the Pacific from its serene vantage point.

The Funicular Stairway
I had a hard time with these stairs due to their length and height. I don't deal with heights very well so I found it much easier to do these stairs at nighttime rather than in the day when I could see between each step. These stairs sit in place of the steep railway that used to transport items from the wharf to the other buildings.

Wildlife

The most surprising aspect of this little national park is the prevalence of native wildlife in such close proximity to the city. Ringtail Possums run along the length of the Funicular Stairway's rails, fearless in regards to the human foot traffic alongside them. We also saw this Echidna nuzzling about in the dirt on our way back to our cottage one night - it seemed completely unperturbed by my presence as I crouched down next to it and at one point it looked up at me with its little beaky nose before returning to its antwork. 

Bandicoots

North Head is home to an endangered population of Long-nosed Bandicoots. I've driven through this area before and registered their presence, hoped to see them one day, and was happy to return to Manly in the hope that I might see one. They emerge at night and the area is apparently full of them. On the first night I was here I stepped out of the restaurant to get some air and looked down to see the little guy above inquisitively weave between my feet in his search for food. I watched as he systematically investigated each table and chair before disappearing into a nearby kitchen door! One of the pictures above also shows the little pockets they dig everywhere in their search for worms. 

Programme

As you can see, the days were spent doing a variety of activities relating to poetry. The poet and writer Kirly Saunders from Red Room Poetry visited on the Tuesday to talk over a few techniques and strategies she likes to use, and we workshopped some great ideas while exploring The Disappearing, one of the creative apps pioneered by Red Room Poetry. 

Anyway, it was a fantastic opportunity to work with other writing English teachers, share valuable feedback, and just have a space where I could write and experiment with different styles.

Steven L. Layne on Engaging Writers in the Classroom

Professor Layne in action

Steven L. Layne is an American educator and a professor at the Judson University in Illinois. He specialises in curriculum and literacy, and has written nearly 30 books (both fiction and non-fiction). Today I find myself sitting in front of Professor Layne at the AATE/ALEA Cutting Edge Conference in Hobart, Tasmania, as he talks about certain essential truths that get to the heart of how writing exists in the classroom.

He's an engaging presence, which is fitting when you consider that this session is called Engaging Writers in the Primary and Secondary Years, and he starts off his session by getting the room to judge a series of statements/questions on a continuum. The overall consensus from this room of teachers seems to be:

• Writing is one of the most complex subjects to teach.
• Writing is not a subject that most teachers are necessarily equipped to teach well.
• Strong writers have advantages that are significant in society.
• Writing tends to be very personal.
• Sharing writing requires a significant degree of vulnerability.
• Constructive criticism can feel like an attack on the writer (no matter if it's teacher or student).
• Kids don't necessarily see writing in school as an enjoyable activity.

One of the underlying subtexts here is that there's a dearth of methodology, and I guess this is where pedagogues like Professor Layne come in with ideas for explicit instruction of writing. 

He starts with the assertion that building a sense of community is the best way to facilitate efficacy among students. A writing community will assist with breaking down the barriers that prevent students from sharing their work (or even writing in the first place).

Some things that the Professor puts into place to encourage this are (and he gave this information to us teachers at the beginning of his session too, much to our collective relief):

• There will be no collecting of writing.
• He's not going to ask us to share our writing with the person next to us.
• We can trust him.
• We don't need to pull an idea out of thin air, so there is no pressure to come up with original ideas.
• If we have something on our mind to write about, we can do that.
• If we need a stimulus, there will be one available to use.

Professor Layne gave us a stimulus, a song called Ellsworth by a country band called Rascal Flats, which deals with Alzheimer's Disease. The guidelines above applied - we didn't have to follow the stimulus if we didn't want, but there was one interesting addition; the Professor used a document camera to show that he was writing too. 

This helped show us that we had become a writing community. I didn't actually read what he was projecting because I was also busy writing but the point is that it showed us he was writing too. That he was doing the exact same task.

It's a little dark, but that's Professor Layne in the left-hand corner writing while his hand is projected onto the screen.

Furthermore, students can become more comfortable in a classroom-community by being asked to come up the front to share their work (no matter how small). This will eventually become something that they're comfortable with, with the caveat that they never race away after reading (the Professor says this is akin to the student silently apologising for their work). Afterwards, the student/writer stays up the front where they can receive commentary from the class, however, it is important that the other students who give feedback are given time to contemplate directly afterwards before offering any such feedback. This allows for the thinkers to start gathering their thoughts, and means that the student who reads aloud doesn't ever walk away thinking that no one has anything to say (which can be damaging to their self-esteem). The teacher should also use this opportunity to give specific positive feedback, asking for a particular sentence or word or idea to be repeated or explained.

All of these things let the student-writer know that their work matters to this classroom-community. 

Another of Professor Layne's 'Top Tips':

TIP #2: Don't consistently ask students to write a complete piece - target an area and do substantial teaching, thinking, and discussing before assigning any writing. When you do assign something- assign only what is necessary to assess - and what has actually been taught.

For example, get students to focus on Thesis Sentences. Even in writing fiction, there should be a sentence or part that tells the reader what the piece if about. It focuses the text, and it isn't the same as a 'hook' or opener. We can target this skill by giving students a piece of writing, even just a paragraph, and ask them to trace what they were thinking while it was being read to them - what was the story about in their mind when they heard the first part, and then what was it about further into the piece, and at the end? 

From here, what does the student think the thesis sentence is?

Another approach is to give the students a prompt (EG. Identify the best TV show ever and give reasons to support this). Add to this 4-5 possible thesis sentences with various degrees of quality in response to the prompt. It's important to include off-topic thesis sentences and other statements that don't adequately respond to the prompt so that students can see what doesn't work.

Most importantly, this little lesson should be repeated many times with students writing their own statements. This way students have a real chance to learn it.

One of the presenter's books

Anyway, I enjoyed this workshop and got some really great ideas out of it. Thanks Professor Steven L. Layne!

Website: Steven L. Layne, Ed. D