HUMANITIES

THE UN@80

The partnership between McKinnon Secondary College and the United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) now spans over a decade. While the annual Model UN program hosted by McKinnon remains a highlight of the school calendar, the UNAA offers additional opportunities for smaller groups of students to engage with diverse and complex global issues.

2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. To recognise this milestone, the UNAA held a special Model UN at Government House on Tuesday 9 December, exploring the question: "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Is it still fit for purpose as the UN turns 80?" McKinnon was invited to bring a team of four students to represent - of all countries - the United States of America.

Year 11 students Olin Buisman, Abby Butterworth, Amelie Ciddor and Elliot Cockle dedicated time during their holidays to attend. Their preparation reflected a sophisticated understanding of the current US Administration and its often-polarising foreign policy, characterised by a prioritisation of security, nationalism, and isolationism. Whether delivering their position statement or debating amendments, all four students spoke with eloquence. They also provided some much-needed levity by adopting Trumpian rhetoric, whilst maintaining the formal tone required by the venue.

The event, held in the State Ballroom, was opened by the Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria, Professor James Angus AO. His Excellency’s opening remarks, delivered in such a majestic setting, created a memorable sense of occasion. Impressive speeches were provided by members of the UNAA team including Prof. Ian Howie, and Carlile Richardson, both of whom have moderated Model UN programs at McKinnon in recent years. Other dignitaries, including Professor Gillian Triggs (former President of the Australian Human Rights Commission) and Ms Amanda Gorley (former Australian Ambassador to the UN), complimented the McKinnon team on their ability to accurately capture the specific voice of the US Administration.

The debate resulted in amendments to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, most notably articles recognising the right to access ICT and the right to protection from climate-change-related disasters. Whilst the students were not always successful in gaining broad support for their US-centric amendments, they represented their assigned country faithfully and refined their negotiation skills in the process.

I extend my sincere gratitude to the UNAA team, led by Dr Sally Northfield. They run incredible programs for students across Australia, and we are fortunate to have maintained this partnership for so long. Now, perhaps more than ever, a nuanced understanding of global politics and the ability to engage in respectful debate are sorely needed.

Finally, I would like to thank Olin, Abby, Amelie, and Elliot for their commitment to the program. Each embodies leadership capacities beyond their years, and it has been a pleasure to work with them. I wish them all the very best for Year 12 in 2026.

Mr William Lee

UN Event Organiser

BIG THANK YOU 

We wish to acknowledge the generosity of Officeworks Chadstone who has kindly donated 20 mini whiteboards and additional markers to our Business Management students for 2026. 

Special thanks to Xavier Leslie from Officeworks Chadstone for all your support with this very kind donation!!

Ms Marie Lucarelli 

VCE Business Management Teacher 

YEAR 7 HISTORY MUSEUM MORNING

Year 7 History students have completed their unit on the Ancient World, with classes exploring different ancient civilisations (Ancient China, Ancient Greece, the Indus Valley Civilisation, and Ancient Rome). To conclude our unit, students had the opportunity to create a museum exhibit on an artefact from their ancient civilisation and share their findings with other Year 7 History students and teachers during our Museum Morning on Monday 1 December.

Our Year 7 History classes have since reflected on the Museum Morning and have begun to connect their History learning to broader skills like collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. Although our semester together is coming to an end, we hope that their interest and passion continues when they return to their History studies in Year 8!

The Year 7 History Team

I enjoyed making the artefact with my friends, using different materials to show the structure of a ballista. In the museum morning, visiting other classes, where different, unique artefacts are displayed fabulously, clear labels and description made me wonder how much time and thinking students used to create such fabulous artefacts. My favourite exhibit was an ancient toilet from the Indus Valley displayed by a group in 7K. The inside function of the toilet showed me how advanced Indus Valley people were in such ancient times. Overall, the Museum Exhibit was a really fun thing and I hope there's other events like this in the future. 

Jayden Choi

I enjoyed the vibe when we had the Museum Exhibit because everyone was learning new things and I thought it was amazing to have an opportunity to do it! I enjoyed how everyone gave accurate information about their artefact. My favourite exhibit I saw was one of a Greek dish. It had multiple foods including flat bread, fish, grapes, apples and much more. I wish we get a chance to do something similar to this task in Year 8 and I will always remember the lovely memories of this day! 

Eleni Mindakis

During the making of the artefact and researching I really enjoyed learning about my artefact and making it with my group. I found it really interesting to learn about the purpose of my artefact and then make that into a real 3D model (in my case it was the Roman senate). For the museum morning I enjoyed looking at the artefacts and how they made it. I loved learning about the different civilisations and what they were learning about. My favourite exhibit was the ancient theatre mask because it was very realistic and I found it interesting. 

Asher D’Souza

I mainly enjoyed that we all worked in groups and discussed together how to make the artefact. The main thing I enjoyed about the Museum Morning is that I was able to learn not only about the civilisation I was working on (Rome), but also other civilisations like ancient China, ancient Greece and the Indus Valley from other classes. I found walking around and looking at other people's artefacts and reading the information about them really interesting. The favourite exhibit I saw was The Great Wall in ancient China. I liked it the most because it had all information that was required: when it was built, the importance, how it was used and a lot of other interesting information. Also, the artefact itself was really detailed and accurate. 

Vivian Nguyen

Something I enjoyed about the Museum Exhibition Task was working with my group to research and create our Ancient Roman spears. I enjoyed sharing my ideas and information with people who didn't know about my civilisation’s artefact. My favourite exhibit that I saw was the Roman mask because the information was super clear and the mask was so fascinating to look at. 

Andy Hoang

When I was doing the task, I really enjoyed being able to research Ancient Roman civilisation and since my topic was architecture, I learnt that the people from Ancient Rome are very smart in terms of their architectural techniques and construction plans. During the Museum Morning, I enjoyed being able to interact and show my work to others that were intrigued in my topic. I liked being able to showcase my and my group's hard work during this task and also looking at how good other groups' exhibits were. 

Out of all the exhibits I saw, my favourite was probably the priest king (from the Indus Valley civilisation) because the group that chose the priest king were very informative with their answers to my questions and the exhibit itself was very well crafted as it was very precisely and very well made of clay. 

Saira Nishanth