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Oliver's First Fleet Diary

Posted on November 08, 2021

Students in Years 3 and 4 created their own Convict Diaries, immersing themselves in the lives of convicts in early Sydney.

Writing in first person, each student took on the role of a convict who travelled to Australia on the First Fleet. Students were asked to describe their crimes, the conditions on the hulks, how they were feeling as they set sail for Botany Bay.

They reflected on how Indigenous Australians and Europeans might have been feeling at the moment of first contact. Students recorded convict life in the first year following their arrival.

Oliver took up the extra challenge, dressing up in convict character and reading aloud his diary entries. Well done Oliver – or should I say … John Boyle?

- Kimberley Phillips, teacher