Humanities News

Girton Students Blitz the 2022 Australian Geography Competition

Students from years 8, 9 and 10 volunteered to participate in the National Geography Competition earlier this year.  The competition is run by the Royal Geopgraphic Society of Queensland and the Australian Geography Teachers Association.

This year was the first time that the test was conducted digitally and online. Participants sat a 30-minute multiple choice test during lunchtime.  While multiple-choice questions might sound easy, every participant knows that the correct answer is not easy to identify. 

Questions tested students’ geographic knowing, application of geographic skills, and use of higher-order reasoning.  This type of test is quite specific, and the results do not necessarily reflect the participant’s school marks in geography or other subjects.

This year in all year levels, Girton students overall, on average, performed above the national average (by at least 10 percentage points in each year level).

Furthermore, of 16 total Girton student participants:

• 5 students attained a distinction 
• And 6 students attained a High Distinction (which means they ranked in the top 10% for their age category)
  • Of these 6 HDs, 2 students ranked in the top 4%
  • and one ranked in the top 1.5% of Australia.

During the Head’s Assembly on Monday in Week three, the following certificates and students were acknowledged.

Year 8

• Mietta Livingstone - Distinction
• Lucy O’Shea – Distinction
• Madeline Ching – High Distinction
• Vivek Vattakatuchery – a High Distinction with a rank of 3.31%

Year 9

• Harry Garnett – Distinction
• Andreas Ginis – Distinction
• John Van Der Werf – Distinction
• Monty Shier – High Distinction
• Patrick Kroschel – High Distinction with a rank of 1.39%

Year 10

• William Bowles – High Distinction
• Nathan Brain – High Distinction with a rank of 3.93%

Certificates are also awarded for credit placing and participation.

Congratulations and thank you to all of the participants in this competition we indeed are very proud of you all and encourage all students to consider entering the competition next year.

Mrs Jinari Mountain

Acting Head of Humanities

Student work: Racism in Australian Sport and the Impact on Public Awareness and Views of Australian Indigenous Culture

Below is an essay written by Sophie Mayes (11 Jones) which was completed in Unit 3 Sociology.

In this area of study, students had to investigate a current issue affecting public perceptions of Australian Indigenous culture. Sophie has written about the experience of Adam Goodes in his final years playing for the AFL.  Please enjoy Sophie's essay 'Racism in Australian Sport and the Impact on Public Awareness and Views of Australian Indigenous Culture'.    

Year 10 Geography Mapping Task on Contemporary Indigenous Land Management

For this project Year 10 Geography students each had to investigate three different locations of contemporary Aboriginal Land Management.  They then worked collaboratively using the Arc GIS platform to create an interactive National map featuring pop-up windows of key information and images.  Students then had to write a Story Map (an article) about one select location and provide more information about the land management practice and its social, economic and environmental impacts.

The following link is the final product (Story and Interactive Map) which is published publicly on Arc GIS Story Maps.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/2eb01cbeb704487b87be4cb8cc683da8