From the 3/4 Classrooms

The Grade 3 and 4 students have been learning about the history of Australia, right back to when Captain Arthur Phillip landed with the First Fleet in 1788 at Sydney Cove. Through research, reading, videos and discussions, students have learnt –

How the First Peoples of Australia lived before the First Fleet (Europeans) arrived,
What the causes and reasons were for the journey by the First Fleet (what was happening in England at the time),
About the voyage of the First Fleet (where it travelled and how long it took),
What the impact on the First Peoples of Australia was when the European settlers arrived,
Who the convicts were, how they were treated and what their daily life involved,
About objects of the past (artefacts) and how historians use them to learn about the past.

Discussions in each classroom have been rich. Students have put themselves into the “shoes” of the First Peoples of Australia, imaging what it was like when 11 ships of strange looking people arrived and unpacked – there were 1420 people including more than 700 convicts!

They also have put themselves in the “shoes” of a convict, thinking about what life would have been like aboard the First Fleet travelling from Portsmouth, England. They have also reflected on the daily life of convicts in Sydney Town, as prisoners in the Hyde Park Barracks, working on building new roads and buildings or working in factories.

Below is a representation of student work completed across all classes. Enjoy their research, their questions, their thinking and their historical stories.

Artefacts of the First Peoples of Australia