Intensive English Language Centre (IELC)

Lightning Writing

Prompt: On Monday, the 12th of September, the IELC class went to the Old Melbourne Gaol. It was an interesting excursion because… 

We re-enacted the Ned Kelly court case, the role played was Dr. Reynolds. He was the forensic doctor who examined the victim’s body. He decided that the injuries were caused by Ned Kelly. Dr Reynolds was a witness who gave the judge and jury more evidence. His evidence led to the Ned Kelly conviction. We then went to the Old Melbourne Gaol, that was a real gaol in the past. Many criminals were executed there, even Ned Kelly. In the jail, I was behind bars with Alaa, Ms.Karalis took photos of us.  

Vicky Zhang

We re-created Ned Kelly’s trial. I played Mr Charles Smyth, the prosecutor. Everyone was given a different character; including the Judge, defendant, doctor, police and witnesses.  We then went on a jail tour. First, we learnt about the conditions prisoner had in the Old Melbourne Gaol. This gaol is the place where Ned Kelly was detained and executed. Prisoners were detained here for a long time. Finally, we went to the Watch House, it’s also a jail, but prisoners are only detained for a short time, maybe a few days while they await to go to court. Actually, our tour guide told us ghost stories and he showed us a fuzzy picture of face in cell 17. Some people think it is a ghost. In addition, at the Watch House, we were divided into a male side, female side and we were locked up in a cell.  We also saw a padded cell for prisoners who have mental illness. 

Jessica Cao

We went to see what I think is the most over whelming interesting thing, it was the official prison entrance gate of the Old Melbourne Gaol. We also saw the Supreme Court where judge Redmond Barry gave his order to hang Ned Kelly. We performed a re-enactment of the trial and my role was to be the judge. At the court Tom was our guide, and  he gave a us a lot of information and performed with us in the trial of Ned Kelly. He also gave us costumes to wear. I was a judge, so I wore red cloak and had a gavel. After that we went to see the  jail and the place where Ned Kelly was hung. It was horrifying and our guide for the Old Melbourne Gaol was Troy. He said that prison cell 17 was haunted. Finally we went to see the watch house which was very old and our guide was Sergeant Henderson. One of my classmates got tricked by him. The tour turned out to be great.  

Sana Qazi

It was an interesting excursion because that day I.E.L.C class went outside the classroom. We visited the Old Melbourne Gaol, did the Ned Kelly court trial and were locked up in the Watch House. I saw the real court it was a very old building. Here, each student was given roles of the characters and we re-enacted the trial of Ned Kelly. Then we went for a tour in the Old Melbourne Gaol. Here we learned many things from our guide Troy. He told us about life in prison in the past. He also told us that this is where Ned Kelly was hung. Finally we went to watch house. Sergeant Henderson separated the male and female students and locked us up. Then we all took mug shots. 

Jim Tran

I saw a lot new things there and learnt about the law rules and the interesting stories about the jail. It was an interesting excursion. We re-enacted the Ned Kelly trial. I think everyone did a really a good job! We followed our guide Troy inside the Old Melbourne Gaol and he gave us a discussion about the harsh life in the gaol. The most important thing was that prisoners had to be silent. In this jail, they executed prisoners by hanging. Troy told us the RMIT University, is built on the prison cemetery. Ned Kelly was executed in 1880 . This made me so surprised. It was a really good excursion! 

Perry Li

It was an interesting excursion because we went to the jail, a very large jail in the city. And then we met Troy who was our tour guide, he told us about the jail. We knew a lot of things about the jail. We knew a lot of things about the life of the prisoner, where they sleep, where they take bath and much more. My friend Jim looked really scared when he came to the jail, maybe he had been there before? But nobody knew. It was a very good and fun experience for me, because this was my first time in jail.  

Long Nguyen

It was an interesting excursion because we visited the courtroom and the prison, we did a great play in the courtroom, everyone enjoyed it and did we all did a great job. Then we went to the prison and listened to a very interesting man. He was really funny ad told many jokes. He had a lot of knowledge of the history of the prison. After the introduction, he led us to the prisoner's cells where he had us all locked up.  Then suddenly all the lights turned off. Everyone screamed. It's really funny, this activity was really good. It was a brand new experience and everyone gained some windfalls and I'm so grateful for the event. 

Guan Dong Chen

I have never been in such a mysterious place. Firstly, we played our roles. We re-enacted the Ned Kelly court case. I played Constable McIntyre. I think this role is very interesting because this Constable was a Stringybark survivor. After Ms Ketty introduced us to our guide. He played Policeman Sergeant Henderson. He was funny and cheerful. He was able to play his role very convincingly. He even had us all locked up in a jail cell and searched us for contraband. 

German Tsymidanov

We arrived at Melbourne Central station and we walked to  the incredible ex Gaol of Melbourne. It was a fantastic experience with my classmates and the perfect sunny day. Our guide have us the full prison experience. He told us how the prisoners lived in these times and how they were treated. The information was great but horrifying. We also did a good interpretation of the Ned Kelly court case in the former court of justice. I and all my colleagues correctly interpreted our different roles. I was sergeant Steel who witnessed Ned Kelly kill Sergeant Lonigan. 

Alejandro Rocca Tellez