Support your Year 4 students in their History: Experiences of People in Australia’s Past unit of work with the First Fleet Convict Profile task.

Created to coincide with Year 4 History Australian Curriculum, this activity will provide students with the opportunity to examine a convict who was transported to Australia aboard the First Fleet. Through their research, students will learn about the unfortunate circumstances experienced by the poor in late eighteenth-century Great Britain which led to them committing crimes that were punishable by transportation to Australia.

Students can explore books, video clips and websites to locate important facts about convicts from the First Fleet. They will use this information to complete a profile of a real convict which includes relevant details, such as their name, date of birth, occupation, crime, sentence and First Fleet ship. In addition, students can combine their creative writing skills with their knowledge of life in late eighteenth-century Britain to compose an imaginative text about what their convict’s life was like prior to their arrest and transportation sentence.

Option for students to draw their convict on the task sheet or teachers can take sepia-toned photos of students dressed up as a convict to add to the profile task. It is recommended to print this task on A3 paper for classroom display purposes.