Psychology Debate and Guest Speaker 

Year 10 Psychology – Forensic Psychology Debating 

The Year 10 Psychology class has been engaged in the topic of Forensic Psychology. As part of this learning they have focused on the criminal responsibility, mental impairment, the role of forensics in the courtroom and the age of criminal responsibility. 

The assessment task for this subject included participation in a debate where students worked in groups of five to present an argument around one of the following topics:

• Should the age of criminal responsibility be raised in Australia from 10 years of age?
• Should people always be held responsible for their criminal actions?

In preparation for this, students completed a practice debate, watched the Premier Debating Championships, learnt about the roles of the affirmative and negative teams and the process of rebuttal. Miss Hurst gave up her time, as an English teacher, debating enthusiast and as our Legal Studies teacher to judge the students. 

It was great to see the development of arguments and the proactive way in which students approached this task – it was a credit to their work ethic and interest in this subject and the legal system in Australia.

Learning about Dementia – Year 11 Psychology

After completing a detailed understanding of the role of cognition (memory) in our everyday lives, students have been focusing on the different types of Dementia that affect humans as we age. Recently, we asked Glen from Dementia Australia to come and speak with our students about his role in Alice Springs in supporting people living with Dementia and those caring for a loved one with this devastating disease. Glen showed the students a range of videos, introduced some brain models and asked students questions about their knowledge of dementia. All Year 11 Psychology students were respectful and asked insightful questions of Glen to further support their learning. 

~ Roxanne Egan

Head of McKay House