Interest in Australian history is increasing, author Susan Boyer has a passion for the topic and aims to bring engaging, educational stories, told by Australian authors, into Australian classrooms.
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Ms Boyer has been touring around schools of the south coast sharing exciting and inspirational stories from our past. Her next stop will be at Central Tilba Public School on March 26 followed by Merimbula Public School March 27, and Pambula Public school March 28.
Ms Boyer tells stories about the adventures and misadventures of convicts and marines aboard the First Fleet, and their varied meetings with the Indigenous people who watched the ships arrive. The stories are based on the original journals, letters and oral accounts of those who lived in Sydney Cove after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788.
These author visits have been welcomed by schools as the talks link to the compulsory Australian Curriculum topics of 'First Fleet' and First Contact'.
The stories, as told in Ms Boyer's latest narrative, 'Stories of Life at Sydney Cove', bring to life the diverse experiences of people in Australia's first penal settlement. Ms Boyer believes it's important for young Australians to get a balanced perspective on the past.
“Our children need to know what happened in our history in order to learn from past mistakes,” she said.
Ms Boyer mentioned the importance of historical storytelling to be based on the actual accounts written at the time.
“By basing the stories on a range of original sources, we get varied perspectives on events, it helps build a balanced picture of what happened.”
“While appalling events in history should never be sugar-coated, swept under the carpet or disregarded, it's important that inspirational true stories also are heard, read and shared,” she said.
Real life stories demonstrate how great things are achievable.”
Ms Boyer’s author visits to south coast schools are funded by Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.