Humanities Faculty update

The study of Humanities provides a framework for students to examine the complex processes that have shaped the modern world and to investigate responses to different challenges including people’s interconnections with the environment. Shelford offers a wide range of Humanities subjects from Year 7 onwards, with our curriculum constantly being updated and tailored to match the changing environment in which we live. We treat Humanities as very much a ‘real-world’ subject and as such, we take it on ourselves to ensure the content is relevant and applicable to our current environment.

Year 9 Challenges

The annual Year 9 City and Environment Challenges are two out of school opportunities for the girls to engage with their learning in a meaningful and hands-on way. By connecting skills and knowledge learned in the classroom to a completely different landscape, the students are able to see and reflect upon how Humanities as a subject is a part of their every day lives. In this edition of the newsletter, are delighted to provide a snapshot of a range of different activities and excursions the Faculty has recently undertaken. 

Business Management Excursion to Yakult 

As part of their studies of Unit 3 Business Management, students have focused on the operations management of various manufacturing and service businesses. Students were lucky to be able to visit the local Yakult manufacturing plant which produces Yakult products for all of Australia and New Zealand. Yakult have a strong community focus, and have set up their factory to include tours, and educational information relating to the nutritional benefits of the product, as well as providing a behind the scenes look at their production plant. 

Students thoroughly enjoyed their experiential learning experience:

It was interesting to see all the factory machinery in the automated production line and the people moving within them from above in real life. I now know the design of the bottle is based off the Japanese kokeshi doll.

Visiting Yakult gave us the opportunity to understand the operations system in greater detail (the inputs, processes and outputs) and enabled us to see how it actually works in person, giving us a better understanding and insight for our upcoming SAC. It also gave some of us our first taste of Yakult – with some of us liking it, and others saying ‘never again’.

Emma Young and Monique Sheehy

Units 3 and 4 Business Management Teachers

Afternoon at the Museum

Year 7 students hosted the ‘Afternoon at the Museum’ on the 25 May. Working in a group of peers, students conducted thorough research on a selected ancient civilisation or major world religion as the culminating task for their study of ancient history in Humanities this semester.

Each group was tasked with creating a museum display incorporating a range of items curated to provide information on the selected civilisation or religion. Each member of a group completed a range of tasks, contributing to the display. The assignment required the cultivation and exercise of a range of skills including collaborative skills, goal setting and project management skills, research skills and visual skills for the creation of an appealing display.

Parents and family friends were invited to attend the ‘Afternoon at the Museum’ and enjoyed the various displays. We were also delighted to host the students of Year 5 and 6 who enjoyed the little games and activities that were a part of each display. The ‘Afternoon at the Museum’ was a highlight of Year 7 for the many girls who had completed the task in previous years, and some VCE students came to visit the Museum and share in the hard work and reminisce about their own assignment years prior. The Year 7 students presented their work with enthusiasm and pride and shared the depth of their understanding with their many visitors.

Ms Marcia Coghlan, a veteran Shelford teacher and passionate teacher of Humanities, was invited to serve as the Chief Judge for the afternoon. She was impressed by the variety of displays and the clear effort invested into the presentations. Marcia commented favourably on the teamwork demonstrated by the event. At the end of the event, Marcia selected the group who presented on the Han Dynasty from ancient China as the winner of the event. We are grateful to Marcia for her attendance and support of the event.

Tristan Hill

Year 7 Humanities teacher

Middle Years Coordinator

Unit 1 Modern History: Excursion to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum

Recently the Unit 1 History class accompanied by Ms Martin and Ms Cheeseman visited the Melbourne Holocaust Museum in Caulfield; taking the tram to the museum and being led on a guided tour through the different stages of the Holocaust. Breaking down the events of World War II in Germany helped us to comprehend how such horrors were able to occur slowly and methodically overtime. 

The museum staff conveyed to us the vital importance of humanising the statistics of the Holocaust, and valuing the stories of individuals in order to prevent de-humanisation and ignorance. To truly appreciate individuals’ stories and people, the museum presented a series of survivor testimonies. These have been recorded in an attempt to keep personal stories and experiences alive and valued by History student.

Julia Martin

Head of Humanities