Teacher Resource

FREMANTLE PRISON

Teacher Resource

Introduction

1

Links to Curriculum2

Topics to Explore

2

Pre-visit Activities
Hot Seat3

Turn on the Lights

3

Convict Escape4

Convict Rules Versus School Rules

4

Investigation – Convict Profile

5

Timeline

6

Picture Analysis

6

Fremantle Prison Picture Comparison

7

Investigation – Convict Daily Life

8

Primary and Secondary Sources

9Tour Information and On-site Activities

10

Post-visit Activities
Letter Back Home

11

Role Play

11

Convict Debate

11© Government of Western Australia 2009
Published by Fremantle Prison, Department of Treasury and Finance – Building Management and Works, Government of Western Australia
The Terrace, Fremantle, Western Australia, 6160, Australia
All rights reserved. This publication is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, classroom teaching, research, criticism or review, as permitted under
the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any otherinformation storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the publisher. No image in this publication may be reproduced without the permission of the copyright owners.
Fremantle Prison’s Key to Knowledge resources have been produced by Fremantle Prison for general classroom use. Teachers may duplicate the resources for education purposes only.
Research and Text: Luke Donegan
Design: Axiom Design Partners
Text editing: Maia Frewer, Oonagh Quigley
Acknowledgements:
Fremantle Prison would like to thank the following organisations and individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of this resource – State Records Officeof Western Australia, State Library of Western Australia, National Library of Australia, Western Australian Museum, History Teachers Association of Western Australia, City ofFremantle - Local History Collection, St Patrick’s Primary School, Margaret McPherson, Maree Whitely
Front cover illustration:
Convict Prison, Fremantle – detail 1859, Henry Wray (1824-1900)
National Library of Australiaiwww.fremantleprison.com.au

FREMANTLE PRISON

Teacher Resource

Introduction
Fremantle Prison is one of Western Australia’s most important historical sites. Convicts
built the prison between 1851 and 1859. Before the arrival of the convicts in 1850,
the Swan River Colony was on the brink of collapse. From their base at the prison,convicts built much of the State’s vital infrastructure, such as roads and public buildings,
transforming Western Australia from an isolated settlement into a vibrant community. The
story of convicts and the Convict Establishment, now known as Fremantle Prison, plays animportant part of the history of our state.
The Fremantle Prison Convict History program includes a teacher
resource, a student resource, and four information packs. It supplements
the Convict History tour at Fremantle Prison. The activities can be cherrypicked to suit your class program. Alternatively this resource could form
the basis for a ‘Depth Study’ on Western Australian convict history.
The Teacher Resource provides pre-visit and post-visit activity suggestions.
The Student Resource contains instructions and activity sheets for eachactivity which can be photocopied and handed to your students.

The four information packs provide themed information on various aspectsof convict history in Western Australia and include transcripts of authentic
historical documents such as excerpts from journals, letters and official papers.
• Convict Biographies tell the stories of individual convicts transported
to Western Australia.
• Convict Daily Life describes what day to day living was likefor convicts.
• Building the Convict Establishment describes the monumental
process involved in the convict construction of Fremantle Prison.
• Convict Escapes tell the stories of the convicts who attempted toescape from Fremantle Prison.

Officers’ quarters and guardroom, convict prison, Fremantle 1859, Henry Wray (1824-1900)
National Library of Australia

1

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

Links to curriculum
The Fremantle Prison Convict History programis designed for upper primary school students
studying early colonial or convict history. It has beendeveloped to support an inquiry based approach to
the teaching of history.
The activities provide learning opportunities in the Time, Continuity andChange; Investigation, Participation and Communication; and Active
Citizenship strands of the Western Australian Curriculum Framework.
This resource also acknowledges the current development of a National
History Curriculum to be implemented by 2011. As such it has been
informed by the recommendations in the National History Curriculum –Framing Paper produced by the National Curriculum Board in November
2008, as well as in the History Teachers’ Association of Australia (HTAA)
Response to the National Curriculum Board’s History Framing Paper, 11
February 2009.
This resource recognises that there are core historical literacy skills or
historical understandings that will be fundamental to any best-practice
approach to teaching history.

The Fremantle Prison Convict History program provides students with
opportunities to:• investigate important people, ideas and events in Western Australia’scolonial history;• investigate changes and continuities in Western Australia’scolonial history;• learn about a significant heritage site;• understand how people, ideas and events from the past affect the way
people live today;• use information from a variety of primary and secondary sources;• plan questions and observations for an excursion;• gather evidence from a range of sources and summarise information;• use evidence to support a point of view;• empathise with people from the past and see past events from different
perspectives; and• engage in public debate while respecting the opinions and beliefs
of others.

Topics to explore
The transportation of convicts to Fremantle between
1850 and 1868 had a significant and lasting influenceon the history of Western Australia.
The following questions can be used as the basis for classroom discussion
or as focus questions for extended investigations:• When did convicts come to Western Australia?
• Who were they? (Where did they come from? What crimes did they
commit?)• Why were convicts transported to Western Australia?
• Where did they stay?
• What did they do while they were in prison?
• What did they eat?
• What did they wear?
• Did any convicts escape?
• How were they punished?
• How were they rewarded for good behaviour?
• When did convicts stop coming to Western Australia?
• How did convicts contribute to the development of Western Australia?

2

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Activity

Activity

Place yourself in the hot seat!

This small investigation activity familiarises yourstudents with the context of convicts in Western
Australia. Some of the questions below may havebeen answered during the Hot Seat activity. This
activity also provides a mechanism for allocating‘roles’ to your students which can help guide theirlearning and which they can use in the role play
activity described later.

Hot seat
This is a simple and fun way to introduce the topic of convicts whileproviding a lot of introductory information that can ground further activities
and investigations.

1. Read the resource documents available with this program to build
your knowledge of the history of convicts in Western Australia.

2. Tell your students you have a special guest coming to visit the classtoday – an ex-convict who spent time at the Convict Establishment(Fremantle Prison). This visitor will be able to answer all theirquestions about convicts.

3. Move your students’ chairs into a large circle, and then leave theroom.

4. Change into an historically appropriate prop costume – trousers anda waistcoat, even an old hat would do.

5. Return to the classroom in character, an ex-convict who has enjoyedrelative success in their post prison life - many ex-convicts became
school teachers, public servants and trades people.

6. Seat yourself in the middle of the circle and introduce yourself.

Provide background information to orientate your students to thenarrative context.

7. Invite questions from your class about your life as a convict.
Encourage them to be creative but to stick to the topic.

Turn on the lights

Allocate the focus questions to small groups to investigate and report backto the class.
Focus Questions• When did convicts come to Western Australia?
• What sort of crimes did they commit?
• Why were convicts sent to Western Australia?
• Where did they stay?
• Did any escape?
• How were they punished?
• How were good convicts rewarded?
• When did convicts stop coming to Western Australia?
• Name two buildings built by convicts in Western Australia.
Allow the students who correctly answer all the questions the quickest to
take on the characters of the first convict administrators. You can allocate
the roles of:• Comptroller-General• Superintendent• Chief Warder• Surgeon• Flagellator (this could be a warder)• Warders
These students should retain these personas throughout your convict
program. The remaining students should be delegated as convicts.
If you direct your students to investigate individual convicts later in yourprogram, have your ‘administrators’ investigate their real-life historicalcounterparts.

3

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Activity

Convict EscapeHundreds of convicts and prisoners escaped from
Fremantle Prison during its operational history.
Convicts continually came up with ingenious ways
to escape from what administrators tried to make anescape-proof prison.
This activity is a fun way to get your students engaged with the convict
story. It allows them to think creatively and problem solve, and gives themthe opportunity to ‘get inside the head’ of a convict.

Activity

Convict rules versus
school rules
The document below shows the rules that convicts
had to follow at the Convict Establishment in 1862.
It is one long sentence! Help your students identify
each rule and compare them with the rules students
have to follow at school.
No prisoner shall disobey the orders of the overseer or any otherofficer … or be guilty of swearing, or any indecent or immoral
expression or conduct, or of any assault, quarrel, or abusive
language, or smoking inside the ward, cell, privy cookhouse,
washhouse, or workshops, or any talking or other noise duringmeal-hours, or after the silence-hours at night; leaving the square
allotted as their exercise-ground on any pretence, except to thecloset, or converse or hold intercourse with any other prisoner
or tradesman employed about the yard, except as authorised by
the prison rules, or cause annoyance or disturbance by singing,whistling, or making unnecessary noise, or pass or attempt topass, without permission, out of his ward or beyond the boundsof the ward or other place to which he may belong, or when atwork go without leave beyond the limits assigned for such work,or disfigure the walls or other parts of the prison by writing onthem or otherwise, or deface, secrete, destroy, or pull down any
paper or notice hung up by authority in or about any part of theprison, or wilfully injure any bedding or other articles, or commit
any nuisance, or have in his bay or possession any articles not
furnished by the establishment or allowed to be in the possessionof a prisoner, or shall give or lend to or borrow from any otherprisoner any food, book, or other articles without leave, or refuse
or neglect to conform to the rules and regulation or orders of theprison, or otherwise offend.

1. Read to your students some of the stories from the Convict Escapes

resource. Ask them to think about what the convicts did right and what
they did wrong in their escape bids.

2. Provide your students with the background context and the prison
maps located in the Student Resource.

3. Discuss the elements students need to think about in order to plan

their escape. Ask them to identify what could go wrong in their escapeattempt and to plan for these potential problems.

4. During the planning phase, discuss the architecture and layout of theprison complex. Ask your students why the prison was designed theway it was.

5. Direct your students to mark out their escape route on the maps and towrite out a 10 step plan of escape.

6. Discuss the escape plans as a class and vote on which plan has themost likely chance of success.

Rules and Regulations for the Convict Department Western Australia, 1862.

1. Help students read the Rules and Regulations document by breaking it
into small components.

2. Ask students to list the convict rules and identify whether equivalent
rules exist today at your school.

Fremantle Prison Gatehouse with signal cannon in foreground c1870s
Fremantle Prison Collection

3. ROLE PLAY – take your students outside the classroom and get themto engage in a mundane task such as weeding the oval or removing
pebbles from a path. Direct your ‘administrators’ to watch over theconvict students and enforce the convict rules.

During and after a visit to Fremantle Prison students will have an
opportunity to evaluate and fine tune their escape plans.
Your student groups could present their escape plans in dramatic form,
acting out or narrating their escape.

4. Facilitate a group discussion about how it felt having to follow a strict

This presentation could be held at Fremantle Prison in the Prison Library as
part of your on-site excursion.

5. Ask your students why these rules were necessary and what they think

set of rules and having their peers tell them what to do.

the long-term effects would be on convicts having to follow them.

4www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Activity

Investigation: convict profile
This activity helps students learn more about the individuals involved in Western Australia’s convict history.
Knowing how people were affected on a personal level will help students gain a more authentic perspective
into our convict history.

1. Allocate or allow students to select a historical figure to investigate.
Students who have been given the roles of ‘administrators’ should
investigate their counterparts.

2. Provide your students the list of questions to help guide theirinvestigation.

List of convicts• Joseph Lucas Horrocks – opened a successful copper mine
• Moondyne Joe – famous escape artist• James Walsh – talented artist• Thomas Bushell – hanged for attacking a warder

3. Help students find sources of information.

• Thomas ‘Satan’ Browne – opened a pleasure resort in South Perth

4. Direct students to take notes and organise information according to• Patrick Gibbons – attacked an ex-convict by biting off his bottom lip

their investigation questions.

5. Once students have completed their convict (or other) profile, get themto move around the classroom and meet the other historical figures,(they could do this in ‘character’). Ask them to work out who they thinktheir person would have gotten along with and who they would havedisliked. This will help them get a sense of their subject’s personality.

6. Lead a class discussion on the subject of convict crime andpunishment. Ask your students whether they believe the punishment oftransportation suited the crimes committed by convicts.

Sources of information
While there were many convicts sent to Western Australia, information
about specific convicts can be hard to find. Information about some of theconvicts listed on the next page can be found in the Convict Biographies
resource.
Information about historical figures can also be found on the Fremantle
Prison Convict Database at:
http://www.fremantleprison.com.au/Pages/Convict.aspx
Extra information on individual convicts can be found at:
http://www.fremantleprison.com.au/History/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.convictcentral.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Convicts_transported_to_Western_Australia• John Boyle O’Reilly – famous Irish convict• William ‘Fiddler’ Graham – escape artist and ‘ladies man’• Joseph Ralph – escape artist• Thomas Smirk – had twelve children and lived in Fremantle• Ross Alexander – convicted for accidentally killing an old lady while
drunk

List of convict administrators• Governor John Hampton – autocratic governor who interfered inconvict affairs• Comptroller-General Edmund Henderson – first Comptroller-General• Henry Wray – Captain of the Royal Engineers who helped to build
the prison• Superintendent Thomas Dixon• Surgeon George Attfield  Students could also investigate the warders, Royal Engineers, or thePensioner Guards.

Questions to guide investigation• What was his name (and convict number)?
• Where did he come from?
• What year did he arrive at Fremantle and on what convict ship?
• What was his crime?
• What did he do while in prison?
• How did he leave the prison?
• What did he do later in life?
• What sort of man was he? (Good, bad, talented, ambitious, smart,violent, lazy etc).

5

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Activity

Activity

Sequencing events is an important part of studying andresearching history. Using the Building the Convict
Establishment resource, direct students to sequence
the completion date of each building in the prison
complex into a timeline.

The picture below shows the replica convict-era cellon show at Fremantle Prison.

1. Place a timeline along the classroom wall marked from 1850 to 1886.

2. Provide your students with the question sheet.

Timeline

Picture analysis
1. Ask your students to analyse the picture and work out where theprisoner would have gone to the toilet (the bucket under the hammock).

This period covers the convict-era of Western Australia, up until
Fremantle Prison was converted from an Imperial prison controlled
by the British Government to a colonial prison run by the Western
Australian Legislative Assembly.

2. Direct students to plot the construction of the Convict Establishment
along this timeline.

3. As your students investigate convicts and convict events, they canplace their findings along the timeline, building up a story of convictsin Western Australia over the course of your convict program.

Discussion point
Was there a logical reason why some buildings were completed before
others? For example:• Why were the Commissariat and the Short Jetty built first?
• Why was the ramp leading to the prison site built before any of themain buildings?
• Why were the gatehouse buildings and the perimeter wall built before
the main cell block?

Reconstructed Convict Cell in Fremantle Prison 2009
Fremantle Prison Collection

The questions which follow are designed to encourage your students tothink about what daily life would have been like for the convicts.
• What furniture can you see in the cell?
• There is a toilet somewhere in this cell. Can you find it?
• What things in the photo are there to stop the prisoner from escaping?
• The convict cells were only seven feet long by four feet wide, most likely
smaller than the bathroom in your house. What do you think it would
have been like to live in a room that small for months or maybe years?
• The convicts had no books, personal belongings or spare clothes. But
some clever prisoners were able to hide things in their cell. Where
could you hide something if this was your cell?
• If you could hide one personal item in your cell, what would it be?
• What does the cell tell you about life for convicts in the Convict
Establishment?

6

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Activity

Fremantle Prison picture comparison
Over the course of time, some things change while others stay the same. Paintings and photographs can show
how places change over time.
The watercolour below was painted by Henry Wray in 1859 and shows the prison soon after construction was completed.

Convict Prison, Fremantle 1859, Henry Wray (1824-1900)
National Library of Australia

The photograph below shows the same view of Fremantle Prison in 2008, 149 years later.

Main Cell Block 2008
Fremantle Prison Collection

Ask your students to look closely at the two images and identify what has changed over the course of 149 years, and what has stayed the same.

7

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Activity

Investigation:
convict daily life
This activity helps students learn more about daily
life for convicts in Western Australia between 1850
and 1886.

1. Divide students into groups of three or four.
2. Allocate or have students select at random the investigation topics

Name:
My Investigation:

PUNISHMENT

What Do I Want to Know? (Focus Questions)
What?

What punishments were used at theConvict Establishment?

3. Using a Five Ws and an H sheet, help students develop questions

Who?

Who received punishments and who handed
them out?

4. Instruct your students to include one or more questions which they can

When?
Where?
Why?
How?

When did punishments take place?

listed on the next page.

about their topic to guide their investigation.

ask the tour guide during the Convict History tour at Fremantle Prison.

5. Help students locate sources of information, including the Daily Life

resource provided, school library, public library, Internet etc. A lotof information about the convict experience in the eastern states has
been published, less so of the convict experience in Western Australia.
While many of the daily experiences of convicts in the New South
Wales and Swan River colonies were similar, the Daily Life resource
has specific information about Swan River Colony convicts.

6. Explain the difference between primary and secondary sources.

Students can use the primary and secondary source checklist to
identify whether the information they find is primary or secondary.

7. Help students organise the information they gather into a meaningfulform. If you plan on holding a convict debate, students need to begathering evidence to support their debate arguments. If you planon running convict role plays, students should be searching for
information to authenticate their ‘performance’. The Letter Back
Home activity is a simple way to synthesise this information in a
written form.

Where were punishments used?
Why were punishments given out?
How did they take place?

Write a question
you can ask the tour
Which punishment was for the worst crimes?
guide on your trip toFremantle Prison

Investigation topics• Rules• Daily routine• Prisoner cells• Clothing• Food• Punishment• Work• Religion• Ticket of leave and conditional pardons8

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

PRE-VISIT ACTIVITIESPrimary and secondary sources
Historians investigate people and events from the past by finding sources of information. There are two maintypes of information that are useful to historians - primary sources and secondary sources.
Primary Sources are written or created at the time of an event, or very soonafter something has happened. A primary source is written by someone who
has direct or contemporary experience of an event. All of the following canbe primary sources:• Diaries• Letters• Photographs• Maps• Sound recordings• Interviews• Newspaper articles• Published first-hand accounts, or stories

Secondary Sources are documents that describe events in the past. Theyuse primary sources to help tell their story. For example, someone writinga history book about the Second World War gathers information byresearching the war. They look to other books, photographs, diaries andmemoirs, letters and official documents for information. They cannot relyon their own memories if they were not in the war themselves. All of thefollowing can be secondary sources:• History textbooks• Biographies• TV documentaries• Articles in encyclopaedias or on the Internet• Published stories• Movies of historical events

Primary sources:

Secondary sources:

whencreated at the time of an event, or very soon after

created after event; sometimes a long time after something happened

who

created by someone who saw or heard an event themselves

created by someone who did not see the event for themselves

howcreated from observations

created from investigation - often uses primary sources as examples

what

letters, diaries, photos and newspapers

history text books, historical movies and biographies

9

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISONTOUR INFORMATION & ON-SITE ACTIVITIESTo book a Convict History Tour for your class call Fremantle Prison on
9336 9210 or email schoolbookings@fremantleprison.com.au
Bookings for student groups are essential. Cost: $6.50 per student, one
adult supervisor per 10 students free of charge. Let the Bookings Officer
know if your students have special needs. Prices are correct at the time of
publication and are subject to change.
A sheltered lunch area is available. School bags can be stored in this area.

Convict History TourThe Convict History Tour allows students to explore the buildings andcells of Fremantle Prison and discover what life was like for the convicts
transported to the Swan River Colony. Students learn about famousconvicts such as Moondyne Joe and famous convict escapes such as theCatalpa Escape.
The Fremantle Prison tour guides are knowledgeable about all aspects ofconvict history in Western Australia and students have the opportunity to
ask questions specific to their own interests and investigations.

Convict History Tour, Main Cell Block 2008
Fremantle Prison Collection

Fremantle Prison Library
Fremantle Prison’s Library was located in one of the original convict
Association Wards, a communal living space shared by low-risk convicts.
This room is available for teachers wanting to supplement the tour withlearning activities at the prison site.
The Library is an ideal space to hold student debates, role plays or otheractivities, where students are surrounded by the physical reminders of theconvict-era.
If you require use of the Library, inform the Bookings Officer at the time ofyour booking.
Fremantle Prison Library 2008
Fremantle Prison Collection

10

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

POST-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Activity

Letter back home
Ask students to write a letter back home describing
their daily life as a convict, as well as a description of
an interesting event they witnessed or were involved
in. They could include a sketch of convict life.
A day in the life of a convict – letter to a friend back home
• What year is it?
• How long have you been in prison?
• What was your crime?
• Describe your day.
• Describe your cell.
• What did you eat?
• What did you do at work?
• Describe an event – escape attempt, punishment etc.
• What do you want to do when you get out of prison?

Activity

Role play
Role play is a form of unscripted drama that canhelp students become more interested and involved
in history studies. Students can actively engage
with knowledge in creative ways through simulated
scenarios. Role playing helps students develop skillsof initiative, communication, problem-solving, selfawareness and working cooperatively in teams.
The role play activity should help your students process the information
they have learnt about convict life and express their new knowledge.
Students should play the roles of the people they investigated in the convict
profile investigation activity.

1. Decide whether you want to run an all-class role play or a series of

6. Run the role play. Set a time limit and only interject if you needto move the action in the desired direction. Otherwise allow yourstudents to enjoy themselves, be creative, and see where the action
leads them.

7. After the role play is completed, debrief your students about what took
place. Hold a class discussion about what happened and what students
learned from the activity.

Role play scenarios• Work party – convicts in a work party have to organise an escapewithout their guards knowing. Convicts are wearing leg irons. If they
can distract the guards for long enough they can plan, and maybe evenexecute their escape.
• Governor’s visit – Governor Hampton comes to inspect the prison. He
sees convicts in cells or at muster in the parade ground. Convicts havethe chance to tell him about the bad prison conditions. Do the warders
allow them to talk? Does the Governor care what they say?
• Punishment – a convict is flogged for attempting to escape. The otherconvicts and prison staff are forced to watch this brutal act. What dothey say to each other?
• Debate – convicts have the opportunity to meet with the ComptrollerGeneral and Superintendent and air their grievances. What do thewarders say in their own defence? Does the administration choose tolisten or to ignore the convicts’ complaints?

Role play rules• Stay in character – students need to be caught up in the scenario forthe role play to be effective and real.
• Be polite – students must always treat each other with respect even if
they disagree with each other.
• Don’t interrupt or talk over people – role plays can quickly become
muddled if more than one person is talking at any one time (unless the
scenario requires simultaneous conversations).
• Always be honest – character deception in a role play makes theaction too confusing and complex to be effective. Students need to beable to assume that other students are telling the truth and are backing
up their statements with real evidence.

small group role plays that are watched by the rest of the class.

2. Choose a role play scenario that relates to the topics your students
have investigated.

3. Decide where you will hold the role plays; at school or at Fremantle
Prison.

4. Brief your students about the role play scenario and about what is

expected of them. Give them a clear explanation of the role play rules
provided.

5. Allow students time to prepare.
11

www.fremantleprison.com.au

Convict History : Teacher ResourceS

FREMANTLE PRISON

POST-VISIT ACTIVITIES
Activity

Convict debate
Debating is a formal method of interacting that helps students develop a range of communication andinformation processing skills. Students learn skills of logic, factual argument, persuasion, and the use ofevidence and rhetoric to support a point of view. All of these skills are fundamental to the art of historicalinvestigation which is as much an interpretive as it is a factual act.
By the time your students have investigated convicts and visited Fremantle
Prison, they should have enough information to participate in a debate
about the positive and negative aspects of the transportation of convicts toWestern Australia.
The debates can be held at Fremantle Prison as part of your class visit orback in the classroom post visit.

Convict Debate Topics
The following is a list of possible debate topics:• The transportation of convicts was essential to the survival of theAustralian colonies.
• Modern Australians should be ashamed of their convict ancestors.

The debates can follow a formal debate structure or can be as informal as a
general classroom discussion. It is important however that your students:• choose or are allocated a position either for or against• use persuasive argument to move others to their point of view

• The transportation of convicts to the Australian colonies was cruel andunusual punishment.
• If not for the introduction of convicts, the Swan River Colony would
have failed.
• Transportation was the best solution to overcrowding in
English gaols.

• use evidence to back up their arguments.

• The convicts were very important people in Australian history.

1. Choose the debate topic.

Or alternatively ask your students to come up with their own debate topic.

2. Divide students into debate teams, half for and half against the topic.
3. Teach the debate format.
4. Give your students time to organise their arguments. Their arguments
should be backed up with evidence taken from information they haveinvestigated over the course of their convict program.

5. Run the debates.

12

Close theaffirmative caseby presenting a
final argument
Summarises
the team’s
arguments

Third Negative speaker

Rebuts thesecond negative
speaker’sarguments

Rebuts the third
affirmative
speaker’sarguments
Close thenegative caseby presenting a
final argument
Summarises
the team’s
arguments

7.

Presents one
or two major
arguments,
supported withevidence

Third affirmative speaker

Rebutsthe second
affirmative
speaker’sarguments

6.

Presents amajor argument
supported withevidence

Presents one
or two major
arguments,
supported withevidence

Second negative speaker

Rebuts (whichmeans to argue
against) the
first affirmative
speaker’sarguments

Rebuts thefirst negative
speaker’sarguments

5.

Defines the
topic from theirpoint of view

4. Second affirmative speaker

Presents amajor argument
supported withevidence

First negative speaker

Defines the
topic

3.

Introduceseach speakerin turnFirst affirmative speaker

Announces
the topic

2.

1.

Chairperson

Debate format

www.fremantleprison.com.au