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How can I run my lesson on first contact at Port Jackson that explains what happened, keeps students focused, and uses evidence properly, when I have limited preparation time and I do not want the class to walk away with a simple “good versus bad” story? That is the exact problem this standalone one to two lesson sequence is designed to solve: it gives you a complete, ready to teach pathway that saves planning time while still supporting curriculum expectations and student engagement.
If you want to see the lesson resource now, link this text on your website to the Teachers Pay Teachers page:
View the First Contact at Port Jackson lesson resource
The lesson problem this resource solves
When a teacher asks for help with this topic, it is rarely because they lack interest or care. It is because first contact lessons demand three things at once.
First, students need a clear narrative foundation, otherwise they cannot explain cause and consequence. Second, they need structured source work, otherwise discussion becomes impressionistic and writing becomes vague. Third, the topic requires careful thinking about perspective and power, otherwise students default to simplistic conclusions that do not reflect the historical record.
This resource is built as a single, self contained sequence that does those three jobs in one to two lessons, without you needing to gather sources, design questions, build slides, or write an answer key from scratch.
If you need that ready to run lesson sequence, use your linked text again here: View the First Contact at Port Jackson lesson resource.
A teacher refresher on the context, in the language students can grasp
In January 1788, the First Fleet entered Port Jackson and established a settlement at Sydney Cove, a place known to the Gadigal people as Warrane. For students, the key is not memorising ship names in this lesson. The key is understanding the historical situation created by the settlement.
The British arrived intending to stay and build a colony. Aboriginal peoples already lived within established systems of law, responsibility, relationship, and belonging tied to Country. Those systems did not match, and the effects of the settlement were immediate. Land use changed, access to resources shifted, routines were disrupted, and new risks appeared. At the same time, individuals on both sides made choices in conditions they did not control, with limited shared language and competing expectations.
That is why “first contact” is not best taught as a single moment. It is better understood as a period of rapidly changing relations in which accounts differ, motives are interpreted, and the evidence must be weighed.
If you want a lesson that introduces this complexity in a structured, student friendly way, link students and teachers to the resource page: View the First Contact at Port Jackson lesson resource.
What you want students to understand by the end of the lesson
In one strong lesson, Year 9 students can do more than recall events. They can learn how history works.
A realistic goal for this topic is that students can explain, in their own words, why early relations were unstable and why the evidence does not support a black and white story. That usually involves recognising several factors at once, such as uncertainty, differing expectations, the pressures of establishing a settlement, and unequal power shaping what was possible for different people.
The resource supports that outcome by guiding students to make a claim and support it with evidence, rather than asking them to “discuss” in a way that produces broad statements.
If you want a reliable sequence that gets students to an evidence based explanation within a single lesson window, the resource link is here: View the First Contact at Port Jackson lesson resource.
How this fits a source skills approach
Think of this lesson as a plug in solution for the moment you need it most: when the topic must be taught, but you do not have time to build the materials to a high standard.
It works because it keeps the focus on the core Year 9 habits you want everywhere in History: evidence first, explanation second. Students are steered away from guessing, and toward identifying what a source suggests, what it leaves out, and how perspective shapes what is recorded.
If you want your class to practise those habits with minimal preparation on your part, this is the resource to use: View the First Contact at Port Jackson lesson resource.
Optional background sources, if you want to strengthen your own footing
If you later want to extend your teacher background knowledge, primary accounts by Watkin Tench and David Collins, alongside correspondence from Arthur Phillip, are commonly used entry points. Language records associated with William Dawes can also be valuable for understanding early communication and interpretation. Many of these materials are accessible through State Library of New South Wales.
For secondary reading, historians such as Grace Karskens and Inga Clendinnen are frequently recommended for careful treatment of early Sydney and cross cultural contact. For guidance on respectful terminology and classroom practice, AIATSIS provides widely used advice.
Teacher to teacher
If you are trying to keep this topic accurate and meaningful while managing everything else on your workload, a single high quality lesson can carry more weight than a week of rushed activities. Aim for clarity: students should understand what happened at Port Jackson in the early months of settlement, and they should leave recognising that the past is rarely simple, because people acted within constraints and the evidence reflects differing viewpoints.
If you want a standalone one to two lesson sequence that solves the immediate planning problem and still produces strong student thinking, link your page visitors here:
View the First Contact at Port Jackson lesson resource
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