Hero Week November 2015 a Worksheet for Schools IN Victoria Australia William Ferrier

FOR THE TEACHERS.
It will be the 110th anniversary in November, 2015, of William John Ferrier's heroic rescues of crewmen from the La Bella at Warrnambool. Ferrier became an OVERNIGHT NATIONAL HERO with tributes being sent by the Governor General and the Federal Parliament,the Governor and Premier of Victoria, several interstate organisations and even the King.There were hundreds of articles in newspapers all over Australia in 1905 and again when Ferrier died at Queenscliff in 1937. William John Ferrier was a resident of Warrnambool, Rosebud and Queenscliff and I have proposed a joint celebration of his heroic deed in those three places. Schools, councils,historical societies and newspapers in each area have been contacted and most have been keen but not one response has yet been received from a school.

This lack of response is probably because Principals are so busy and the curriculum is so crowded. History is no longer a subject. However the Dromana Primary School had its pupils very excited about the threatened Dromana Pier, so history projects can be done. Now, not all schools might share Dromana's enthusiasm, but their pupils do not have to miss out on celebrating Ferrier's heroism entirely. That's why I am producing this worksheet. Through literacy activities,the children can gain and pass on civic pride and appreciation of heritage as they learn about one of Australia's greatest peacetime heroes.

FOR THE CHILDREN.

WILLIAM JOHN FERRIER.
From 10:30 p.m. on 10 November, 1905 until daybreak the next morning, a young Warrnambool fisherman suffered terrible agony. He had a poisoned arm and even children know the pain caused by a splinter or rose thorn in a finger or thumb, so you could imagine how much more a poisoned arm would hurt. And yet he managed to become a national hero! Until just before your parents went to school, children only had two things to read in class,the grade reader and the monthly schoolpaper. The Education Department thought that William John Ferrier was so important that the story of his rescue was included in the Schoolpaper in 1907.

ORIGINAL VERSES.
A MODERN HERO.
Off Warrnambool on the night of November the 10th, 1905, occurred a pitiful tragedy, calculated to evoke the sympathy of the whole Commonwealth. The barquentine La Bella struck the reef, half a mile from the breakwater, and soon became a total wreck. Out of a crew of eleven men and a boy, only five men were saved. Sombre as is the cloud of grief overhanging the dismal catastrophe, that cloud has its silver lining. The redeeming feature consists more particularly of the self sacrificing bravery of the young fisherman, William Ferrier, which is depicted and commented upon in the following poem from the pen of Mr. S. H. Remfry,of Heywood, retired State school teacher. It will be noticed that the poem takes up the story at that point where our hero puts off in the dinghy by himself:
1.
Young William Ferrier, fisherman,
Into his dinghy flew,
And vig'rous sculled his little craft,
To save the hapless crew.
2.
The pilot, deeming it unsafe
The breakers to defy,
Two hundred yards' space from the wreck
Held off, and there stood by.
3.
One hundred yards, the distance now,
Two men leap off the deck,
And through the seething waters swim
For the lifeboat, from the wreck.
4.
That moment William Ferrier
His efforts did renew.
Quick flies his dinghy right ahead
And saves one of those two!
5.
By dint of dext'rous seamanship,
Presence of mind as well,
His boat around he quickly turns,
And saves it from the swell.
6.
In recognition of his pluck
And noble self-denial,
The admiring crowd upon the shore
Give lusty cheers the while!
7.
And hearty cheers again are heard,
When, in the waters calm,
They see his guernsey, taken off,
Put on the rescued man!
8.
The other man the lifeboat saves,
And yet another one.
Brave Ferrier outward plies again,
His work is not yet done.
9.
Two men are yet upon the wreck.
The billows milder heave;
The lifeboat makes a slight advance,
And waits to see them leave.
10.
To give these men the pluck to leap,
The wreck the lifeboat nears;
And Ferrier now the captain lands
Amidst vociferous cheers!
11.
One of the two remaining men
Has jumped into the waves,
And after swimming eighty yards,
This man the lifeboat saves.
12.
Young Ferrier's off again.
The lifeboat, scarce advancing now,
Does near the wreck remain.
The captain safe upon the land.
13.
The last man, is afraid to quit
His station perilous;
Though surging seas diminish now,
Delay is dangerous!
14.
The lifeboat throws the man a line;
The rope by him is caught.
But still he fails to leave the wreck;
The line avails him naught!
15.
In rope entangled, he is "done!"
Oh! saved, how can he be?
Lo! Ferrier's at the vessel's stern-
He cuts the prisoner free!
16.
Into the boat the sailor drops,
Our hero sculls away;
The man's soon in the lifeboat safe,
The waves robbed of their prey!
17.
A ringing cheer his triumph greets;
This last trip now complete,
Cheers upon cheers burst from the crowd,
Their hearts with joy replete!
18.
The efforts of this gallant man,
For those poor sailors' sake,
The noblest feelings must excite,
His fellows nobler make!
19.
Whilst many daily hurry men
To a dishonored grave,
All honor be to such as he,
Who mankind nobly save!
20.
Not for applause of fellow men,
Did he this loving deed,
Though this, and e'en emolument!
Full well may be his meed!
21.
Long life to his and heroes all,
By noblest impulse stirred;
They emulate The Christ Himself;
In Heav'n, their praise be heard;
22.
God grant that he never wrecked may be,
But his life 's voyage o'er,
The Heav'nly Pilot may conduct
Him to the golden shore.
(P.3, Portland Guardian,11-12-1905.)

FIRST HALF HOUR LESSON.
CLASS ACTIVITIES. (Memorising the poem,rhyme and rhythm.)
1.Teacher reads the whole poem to the class. 2. Children are asked to find the pair of rhyming words in every verse. 3. The teacher reads the poem again but the class reads the last word of every verse. 4. The teacher, after explaining what syllables are, claps the rhythm of the first verse but stops suddenly and asks for the next word. 5.A volunteer is asked to clap the rhythm of the second verse, stop part of the way through and ask what the next word is. 6.Children are asked to find words, in the verses indicated, meaning: even(20),over (22). The teacher explains that e'er can mean before as well as ever. 7.Children are asked to think of a short sentence including before or ever,but using e'er instead; classmates put up one hand if it means ever and two hands if it means before. 8.Children are asked to find words written with an apostrophe and explain why (regarding syllables) the normal way of writing the word would not fit the rhythm. e.g. Heaven is two syllables but heav'n is only one syllable.
9.POETIC LICENCE. The teacher asks children if they can correct "He ran quick." Then the teacher gives more examples and the class corrects them together: e.g.Pat the cat gentle; Drive careful; We ate hungry. The teacher explains that poetic licence allows normal rules of grammar to be broken for a good reason in poetry. The children are asked to find an example in verse 1, what the correct adverb would be and why the adjective was used instead.
10.A child is asked to google "meed" and read out what it means. Children are asked if there are any other words that they don't understand and these are discussed.
11. Pairs of children are allocated two lines each so that serial reading of the poem can be done. As there are 44 segments,most pairs will get two segments to read. Rehearse quietly with your partner for one minute. Serial recitation. 12. The whole class reads the poem together, but slowly in time with the teacher.

SECOND LESSON.
The class reads the poem together. It is read a second time but children may volunteer to read an even-numbered verse on their own or with a partner.
COMPREHENSION AND VOCABULARY. (Children are allowed to discuss these with a partner or parent. Can be done at home.)
1.Which words in verse 1 both mean boat? 2.Which word in verse 2 has this meaning? [adjective(especially of a person) unfortunate. "the xxxxxxx victims of the disaster"; synonyms:unfortunate, unlucky, luckless, out of luck, ill-starred, ill-fated, jinxed, cursed, doomed.] 3. Which word in verse 2 means "a person duly qualified to steer ships into or out of a harbor or through certain difficult waters"? 4. Which word in verse 1 is an example of poetic licence, as well as abbreviation,turning four syllables into two? 5. Which word in verse 3 means angry or (of a liquid) boil or be turbulent as if boiling? 6. Dexterous (verse 5) and Sinister come from Latin words meaning right and left. A left-handed person was thought to be clumsy (and evil!) Which word do you think means skilful? 7. Find adjectives in verses 6, 7 and 10 that could be replaced with "loud".(They are all followed by the same noun.) 8. Was the rescued man in verse 7 dead, shivering or hearty? 9. Which line in verse 9 means the waves were not as rough? 10.Which rhyming adjectives in verse 13 both mean risky?

LESSON 3 (WHOLE CLASS.)
Each child is allocated a verse to read in a serial recitation with boys and girls alternating on the remaining verses. Whole class correction of lesson 2 answers.

Partner work on the following.
1. Which three consecutive words in verse 14 mean "does not help him at all"?
2. Verse 15 explains that the line was of no use because the man was t------.
3.Which words in verse 20 mean: (a)reward (b)a person's deserved share of praise, honour, etc.?

In groups of four,children help each other find rhyming pairs of words so that each can write a two line poem.
e.g. wave, brave; reef,belief; mountainous,dangerous; new ,rescue; brave,save; heck,wreck; etc. Each child's poem is typed by its author,printed and then illustrated by the author. These pages are then bound into a class book. Children may do more than one poem and try a four line poem if they wish or they could rewrite Mr Remfry's poem as a story.

Imagine the child with literacy problems, as a 90 year old,proudly showing his great-grandchild that poem he wrote in 2015:
It was risky, but what the heck,
Ferrier bravely sculled out to the wreck.

and telling the tale of a great Australian hero.

LESSON 4.
COMPUTER RESEARCH.
A trove search for "Ferrier, Warrnambool, 1905" or Ferrier,Queenscliff,1937" will reveal a host of articles in newspapers all over Australia paying tribute to its hero as well as photos. One photo,showing William Ferrier and survivors the day after the rescue, is fairly rare but can be seen online at:
Postcard Victorian Collections
victoriancollections.net.au/items/521606f819403a17c4ba1311

If you need guidance on using trove,private message me and I'll give you my phone number so I can talk you through it. I can also attach an image to an email showing ship paintings that William John Ferrier did on the bedroom wall of "Rosebud" in Beach St,Queenscliff. His paintings executed inside the South Channel Pile lighthouse can be found on:
William Ferrier Ship Paintings - Queenscliffe Maritime Museum
www.maritimequeenscliffe.org.au/SouthChannelPileLight_Web_23-04-2...

The children's parents may be inspired to read my journals which detail Ferrier family history but also mention many other heroic rescues performed by members of the Ferrier family near Warrnambool,Rosebud and Queenscliff.
Extensive detail about William John Ferrier is available in the following journals:
LEW FERRIER AND PAT HUTCHINS, PISCATORIAL PIONEERS NEAR THE HEADS (NOT FINISHED YET.), VIC., AUST.
AUSTRALIA-WIDE HERO IN 1905: William John Ferrier of Warrnambool, Queenscliff and Rosebud.
MELBOURNE BRINDLE, FERRIER, LACCO AND McLEAR SAVE ERNIE RUDDUCK'S LIFE, DROMANA, VIC., AUST.