A female gaol

• Ask students to research the punishments that were used to keep the convicts in check. Students should list at least four forms of punishment, detailing descriptions and images of these punishments. Some punishments to start with are the stocks, cat-of-nine-tail floggings and solitary confinement, among others.

The following websites may be useful:

1. Female Convicts Research Group (Tasmania), http://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/
2. National Archives of Australia, 'Women Transported: Myth and Reality', http://www.naa.gov.au/whats-on/audio/women-transported.aspx

• Ask students to research some of the common crimes of the 19th century and list the punishments that were typically imposed for each type of crime.
• Ask students to fill in the Y-chart in the Student Activity Sheet H21.3 Punishment for convicts for one of the forms of punishment they have researched.

Note to teachers: these activities may not be suitable for younger primary students due to the graphic nature of the content being discussed. Please use your discretion.

• Ask students to imagine they are writing to the local newspaper arguing for better treatment of convicts. Have students brainstorm everything they know about convict treatment.
• Then conduct a debate with different class members forming the speakers for both sides: those for better treatment of convicts and those against better treatment.

Student Activity Sheet H21.3 Punishment for convicts

• Ask students to research the history of the use of the site of the Parramatta Female Factory. Students can create a timeline of the use of the site. Students can conduct research in the school or local library, or online. As a starting point, teachers can refer to the resources listed below:

1. Free Settler or Felon?, 'Parramatta Female Factory', http://www.jenwilletts.com/female_factory_parramatta.htm
2. Parramatta Female Factory Precinct, http://www.parragirls.org.au/

• Ask students to pretend they are addressing a committee formed to decide whether the Parramatta Female Factory Precinct in Fleet Street, Parramatta, should be designated a National Heritage site. In small groups, they must create a short presentation, accompanied by PowerPoint slides or a poster, explaining the historical importance of the site and why the committee should support National Heritage listing.

Student Activity Sheet H21.4: The Parramatta Female Factory

• Prior to watching the clip, talk with the students about their prior knowledge of the colonisation of Australia and its impact on Indigenous people. Refer to My Place for Teachers , 'Decade timeline', for details. For older students, refer to clips from Beck Cole and Rachel Perkins's television series; The First Australians, or read John Marsden's illustrated children's book about colonisation The Rabbits. A range of educational websites on the subject can be found at Primary School, http://www.primaryschool.com.au/
• As a class, watch the clip A female gaol and take particular note of the scene when Sarah meets an Aboriginal family.
• Ask student to complete the questions on Student Activity Sheet E21.3: Points of view.

• Ask the students to consider the different points of view in the scene where Sarah meets an Aboriginal family. What kinds of thoughts and feelings might different people have?

1. What might members of the Aboriginal family be thinking about feeling during the encounter when they first see Sarah and Mrs Owen and when Mrs Owen fires a gun in the air
2. How would they have felt if they had heard Mrs Owen say: 'This is not their place'?
3. What could Mrs Owen be thinking and feeling?
4. Why does she fire a gun in the air?
5. Why does she beat Sarah afterwards?
6. Sarah smiles at the family. What might she be thinking and feeling?
7. She seems to be silently communicating with Sam. What message do you think they are conveying to each other?

Student Activity Sheet E21.3: Points of view

• In the clip Crime and punishment Sarah is physically punished by Mrs Owen. Discuss the concept of 'punishment' and consider what would be acceptable punishments for children's wrongdoing. Direct the discussion away from physical punishment to dealing with denial and withdrawal of privileges. You could view clips from Jonathan Dawson's film version of Ginger Meggs and John Duigan's film Flirting to see examples of physical punishment. Teachers should always view content prior to showing the class so it can be reviewed for age appropriateness.
• In this clip, Alice threatens to have Sarah sent to a children's prison if she doesn't do what Alice wants. Ask students to research Australian laws relating to corporal punishment and the detention of children. Some useful information can be found at: End all corporal punishment of children, 'Global progress', Australia, http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/progress/reports/australia.html.
• Using this research, students are to imagine that they have been transported in time to 1808 and have been convicted of making contact with local Indigenous people. They are to imagine themselves in court and are to write and role-play their defence speech.

• Ask the students to consider the character of Alice, Sarah or Mrs Owen. They are to imagine their character has been transported in time from 1818 to the present day. Conduct a freeze-frame exercise in which the teacher walks around the class and taps the shoulder of each student in turn. When they are tapped, they introduce their character and explain how they feel about topic of punishment for children.

Student Activity Sheet E21.4: Crime and punishment