First Fleet Arrival

Year 4 Australian History | 60-Minute Lesson

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🧭 Curriculum Links

Learning Area: Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)
Year Level: Year 4
Sub-Strand: History
Content Descriptor (ACARA V9):
AC9HS4K01 – The journey(s) of at least one world navigator, explorer or trader up to the late eighteenth century, including their contacts with other societies, and any impact.
AC9HS4K02 – The nature of contact between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and other people, including the British and the Macassans, and the effects of these interactions on, for example, people and environments.

Historical Concepts:

• Sources and Evidence
• Continuity and Change
• Perspectives
• Empathy

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🎯 Learning Intentions & Success Criteria

Learning Intention:
Students will understand the experience of convicts arriving in Australia on the First Fleet and explore this event from the perspective of a convict without role playing.

Success Criteria:
✔ I can describe what the First Fleet was and why people were sent to Australia.
✔ I can explain what the arrival was like from a convict's perspective using facts and emotions.
✔ I can use historical sources to support my understanding of the First Fleet and convict experiences.

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⏳ Lesson Breakdown (60 mins)

1. Daily Review (10 mins): Contextual Link to Prior Learning

Objective: Activate prior knowledge about life in 18th-century Britain and previous learning on colonisation.

• Strategy: Whole-class discussion using Think-Pair-Share.
• Prompt Questions:
  • What do you remember about convicts and the reasons they were sent to Australia?
  • What was life like in Britain at that time?
  • How do you think people felt about being sent halfway around the world?

Resources:
Whiteboard for class brainstorm – capture thoughts under “Known Facts” and “Wonderings” sections.

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2. I Do (15 mins): Explicit Teach — Arrival Through a Convict’s Eyes

Objective: Provide historical context and demonstrate how to explore an event from a specific perspective, using source materials but not fictionalisation.

• Teaching Focus: Introduce the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 through the use of actual records, including paintings, ship logs, and letters.

• Visuals:

  • Governor Arthur Phillip’s landing (paintings)
  • Extracts from actual logs describing the landing day (edited for Year 4 comprehension)
  • Map of Botany Bay and route travelled by the First Fleet

• Discussion Prompts:

  • What do you notice in these paintings and records?
  • How might the convicts have felt seeing land again?
  • What were some fears or hopes they might have had?

• Vocabulary Focus:

  • Settlement
  • Penal colony
  • Transported
  • Fleet
  • Rations

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3. We Do (15 mins): Joint Construction Using Source-Based Activities

Objective: Guide students through the analysis of texts and images to build empathy and understanding — not through fiction, but grounded discussion.

• Activity: Convict Experience Wall

  • Class reads 3 short primary sources (modified for Year 4 reading level):
    • A log entry about missing fresh water
    • A drawing of tents set up at Sydney Cove
    • An early food ration list
  • On chart paper, students work in groups to contribute:
    • One fact from the source
    • One feeling a convict might have had (historically supported, not imagined)
    • One question for further inquiry

• Teacher models first example fully before groups begin work independently.

• Question Focus:

  • What was difficult about arriving in the colony?
  • What did convicts have to do as soon as they arrived?

• Support: Provide sentence starters for EAL/D or supported students (e.g. “The convicts did not have much ______. This made them feel ______.”)

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4. You Do (15 mins): Independent Reflection & Source Analysis

Task: “Convict Arrival Snapshot”

• Each student completes a structured worksheet titled Convict Arrival Snapshot:
  • Section 1: Draw a simple scene from the arrival (using info from today’s lesson – tents, trees, boats etc.)
  • Section 2: Write 3 short bullet points:
    • 1 fact about the arrival
    • 1 feeling a convict may have experienced (based on source materials)
    • 1 question they still have

Extension/Challenge:
Fast finishers can compare convict versus officer experiences using a simple table scaffold.

Support: Sentence frames and word bank available.

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5. Plenary (5 mins): Exit Slip - Go Further, Think Deeper

• “One word to describe arriving with the First Fleet is ______ because ______.”
• Students write this on a slip and hand it in on exit.
• Teacher uses these for next lesson’s entry point.

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📘 Resources Required

• Enlarged image of the First Fleet landing at Sydney Cove
• Simplified extracts from ship logs, primary source letters
• Worksheets for “Convict Arrival Snapshot”
• Large chart paper / markers for group task
• Whiteboard & markers
• Source posters with vocabulary supports

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🎒 Adjustments & Differentiation

• Supports for Additional Needs/EALD:
  • Visual vocabulary cards
  • Sentence starters
  • Partner support in group tasks
  • Oral response options for written tasks
• Challenge:
  • Use two sources and compare
  • Analyse changing feelings over time (arrival vs after one week)

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📌 Teacher Reflection Prompts

• Were students able to draw from real sources without falling into role-play or fictional narratives?
• Did vocabulary supports allow all students to access the content?
• What confusions or misconceptions emerged during independent work?

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🧠 Extension Idea (Another Time)

Explore contrasting perspectives by comparing convict arrival sources to Aboriginal perspectives using artwork or oral histories (handled with cultural sensitivity and linked to AC9HS4K02).

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✨ Final Notes

This lesson balances factual rigor, empathy, and student engagement. By rooting student inquiry in authentic sources and guided scaffolds, learners are empowered to understand history as lived and felt — without role-playing or fictional diary entries.

The arrival of convicts is not just an abstract date; it is a human experience that shaped Australia’s identity. Let’s teach it with the depth our young historians deserve.