QUEST

HSIE- Year 9 WWI- Living History 

Year 9 have been learning about Australia’s involvement in World War One this term and students were offered the opportunity to participate in a hands-on learning experience delivered by Living History- WWI, owner/ operator Shane Blackman. Shane is a keen collector of authentic World War One artefacts and some movie props and has designed his workshop to allow students to select items from his extensive collection, that they are interested in learning about; and then shares his deep knowledge of each artefact whilst it is passed amongst the students to examine. Approximately fifty students elected to participate and chose items such as a medical kit, a trench periscope, a full soldiers kit and a grenade (not a live one!) …. just to name a few. As a teacher it was often surprising which artefacts students were interested in and the incursion certainly deepened student understanding of the war experience. I have already booked Shane in again for next year so our current Year 8 students will also benefit in 2024. 

HSIE- Year 10- Courage to Care: Upstander program 

Kurri Kurri High School has established an annual partnership with the non-profit educational team, Courage to Care who visit schools across the state to deliver the Upstander program. In Week 6, the Courage to Care team worked with sixty of our students who chose to be involved and had the privilege of meeting Holocaust survivors Peter and Yvonne, who shared their personal stories of survival. The second part of the program is for students to workshop scenarios of discrimination and prejudice and discuss how they can be ‘upstanders’ in society (rather than bystanders). This is a valuable experience for our students, and we are grateful that Courage to Care continue to visit Kurri Kurri High School. We are already booked in for Term 1, 2024! 

HSIE- Year 10- Premiers ANZAC Memorial Scholarship (PAMS) 

The Premiers ANZAC Memorial Scholarship is an opportunity offered annually by Veterans Affairs in conjunction with the New South Wales Government, to Year 10 and 11 students who demonstrate a keen interest in History. The 2023 scholarship will provide a fully funded two-week tour of World War II sites in Darwin and Singapore, accompanied by a military historian, to the successful applicants. This year is the first time Kurri Kurri High School has promoted this amazing opportunity and as a result, three Year 10 students wrote a 1000-word essay and entered applications. We wish Zoe Barbour, Sophie Blackmore and Georgie Clarke the best of luck in being selected.