Humanities

It’s been a great time to think about the places, events, stories, businesses, economies and laws that are the centre of our Humanities subjects.  We haven’t been able to cover all topics in the usual way, but it has given students the chance to explore and discover things around us and online which might have otherwise been missed. 

We couldn’t go to the Holocaust Museum, but students still gained great insight into the experiences of survivors and listened to many accounts.  In fact, we heard more accounts than previous years.  We couldn’t visit some of the biomes studied in Years 8 and 9, but we’ve been able to learn so much more through the use of spatial software and online information. 

Here are some recent highlights: 

• Year 11 History students have been busy studying the early years of the Cold War. This included practising exam-style responses, analyses of documents and speeches, and a loud performance of the song “We didn’t start the fire”. 
• Remote lessons in junior Geography have included exercises on the importance of water as a resource and the unique characteristics of mountain and volcanic environments. Year 7 students excelled at finding and discussing examples of water use around the home. 
• Year 9 Sustainable World students investigated grassland biomes, their unique biodiversity and why they are threatened in so many places. We travelled (in a virtual sense) to the outer northern and western suburbs of Melbourne to study relatively local examples. 
• Our book room/store room has been painted and carpeted. What was until recently an old, dusty space is now new and pristine. 

Chris Hanneberry 

Humanities KLA Leader