Humanities

Our Humanities classes are well into the swing of History, with a focus on key skills. The Year 7s are ensconced in the ancient world. Following their dive into Ancient Australia and introduction to the OPVL method and source analysis questions, they have moved across the globe into Ancient Greece. Students are studying the Classical period of Greek history, when communities across the Greek world (which encompassed much of the Mediterranean and Aegean littorals) emerged from the Dark Ages and reorganised themselves into self-governing city-states. Their study of the creation of democracy in Athens in 508 BCE will lead into the Civics and Australian government unit in Term 4. Learning how to write CESA paragraphs Humanities-style, the students will be immersing themselves in the exciting battles and clever tactics of the Persian Wars (499-479 BCE) to come up with arguments. They will discover where the modern Marathon came from, the legend of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae and how a great Athenian navy was born at the Battle of Salamis. Students will debate in their paragraphs which peoples in the Greek world contributed most to the unexpected defeat of the greatest empire of the time. 

The Year 8s are well into their study of Medieval Europe and have become adept at drawing and describing social hierarchy pyramids. These will be compared with the very different social makeup in Medieval Japan in Term 4. Students have delved into the world of castles, knights and all-conquering Normans. They will touch on Civics with an investigation of the Magna Carta of 1215, a turning point in the establishment of modern democracies, and spend time looking at the Black Death, which led to an overhaul of the social system in Europe. Students have completed another OPVL Chart KLT, a technique they began learning in Year 7. OPVL is a method of interrogating historical sources which derives from the International Baccalaureate program, which streamlines how to approach a source and challenge what it tells its audience. By considering the Origin (the who-what-where-when) of the source, its Purpose (why it was created), and its Values and Limitations, such as whether it is a primary or secondary source or contains biases or missing information, the students are well placed to decide whether they can trust the information they are presented with. These skills can be translated into questioning what they see and hear from politicians, electoral campaign material, advertising or simply on the Internet, helping them make better decisions. The Year 8 teachers have been thrilled to see a great step-up in performance in the OPVL KLTs from their first attempts in Year 7. Students are following up with responding to source analysis questions on Medieval society, practising and refining their writing and presentation of evidence in the second KLT. 

The Year 9s have travelled back to the 1900s with a look at how a world of empires, Industrial Revolution technology and an emerging modern world clashed in the horror of the First World War. They have learned to distinguish between causes and triggers of events and looked at the war from different perspectives and theatres, including Ottoman (Turkish), French, British, German and Russian. They are invited to interpret the battles and events from their own perspective, such as by examining the goals of and letters from both sides at Gallipoli and considering how the Ottomans were desperately defending their homeland and families. Students have had a source-based approach to life on the Western Front, looked at the experience of different groups on the Home Front, and debated the ethics of the conduct of both sides in the war. Students have also revised their geography of Europe and surrounds, annotating and coloring alliance maps and learning about regions such as the Balkans. The 9s are constructing CESA paragraphs in preparation for writing full essays on their upcoming KLT. 

The new semester Financial Education classes are polishing up their resumes, getting advice from their teachers as to how to put together a CV and having the real world experience of asking people to be their referees. They have interviewed each other for the type of job they might be applying for and peer assessed their interview techniques. They will be moving into making household budgets and examining the Housing Market.