HUMANITIES

MOCK COURT PLEA HEARING

During week 1 of term 4, the Year 10 Commerce students travelled into the city by train and participated in a mock plea hearing. The plea hearing was held in the Old Magistrates Court within Old Melbourne Gaol, where we were handed scripts and dress-up robes and re-enacted the real-life court case of Kim Tran’s culpable driving. The case involved a young driver, Kim Tran, who crashed in a race to beat his friend, resulting in the crime of culpable driving causing death as the passenger seated next to him died. 

As part of our Commerce subject, Legal Studies is the third unit, providing insight into the Victorian legal system as we learn about the various criminal and civil laws that keep our state safe and socially cohesive.

The mock plea hearing was a valuable introduction to criminal law, teaching us the exact processes that judges undertake in court and the roles of those present in court. In addition, we were encouraged to consider the impact of the crime on the victim, the degree of responsibility of the driver, and any aggravating or mitigating factors when “sentencing” Kim Tran. 

Overall, the excursion was very educational (and amusing seeing friends act as lawyers and courtroom participants!). The plea hearing directly relates to our curriculum, where we delve into criminal and civil law in further detail and prepares us for the rest of the unit! 

Kayla Morgan 10K

UNIT 2 GEOGRAPHY PHILLIP ISLAND FIELDWORK

This semester in Year 11 Geography we have been learning about the topic of tourism.

Last week on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 October we went to Phillip Island to conduct field work, applying our knowledge of what we have learnt. We visited many popular tourist attractions such as the Nobbies, Churchill island and Cowes. 

The highlights were the Koala Conservation Reserve where we got to see Koalas up close in their natural habitat, the Penguin Parade where we saw penguins coming out of the ocean and traveling to their burrows and lastly everyone's favourite was the Churchill Island Heritage Farm where there were many animals such as sheep, cows, horses, guinea pigs etc. The field trip was an enjoyable experience and the primary data that we collected will now be used to help us investigate our research question.

Leilani Buttie 11B