CMIS Evaluation

This weekend [June 27th 2008] marks 128 years since the Siege of Glenrowan which saw the ultimate capture of Australia’s most well known outlaw - Ned Kelly.  History records Ned as a criminal - indeed he had murdered three policemen and committed several offences, but there are many who see him as a “freedom fighter”, standing up for his beliefs against authority and defending people who had no power.  Australians often back the underdog in lopsided confrontations- perhaps the Ned Kelly story and the Glenrowan siege was the beginning of this social peculiarity.

The argument surrounding Ned Kelly’s role in Australian History is one which can be long debated and never completely decided.  Students and teachers can investigate Ned’s Life and times through web links, literature and film.

WA teachers can use Part 4 of the K-10 Syllabus document “Time Lines and Pathways to the Past: Find Yourself in History” - Crossing the country : City, Town and the Bush - as a starting point for discussion.

Other useful resources include “Black Snake“ by Carole Wilkinson and “Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter“ which is shortlisted for this year’s Eve Pownall Information Books Award for the 2008 Children’s Book Awards.  Teachers’ notes and information are available here.  The Jerilderie Letter Soundscape download recreates the scene of the letter handover through voice, sound effects and music.

Ned Kelly on film can be explored through the Australian Screen website which houses several clips of historic footage of the Kelly Gang story and includes teachers’ notes on the clips.

Other informative websites include :- Ned Kelly’s World ; Ironoutlaw ; Proposed Ned Kelly Centre ; Iron Icon ; Ned on the Net ; Ned Online ; Melbourne Gaol’s Most Famous Inmate ; In Search of Ned Kelly ; Death Mask