The HSIE department is always a hive of activity. Stage 4 and 5 History and Geography have continued the work on skills, with an emphasis on thinking critically and creatively about the world around them.

Teachers and students have been busy engaging in a range of different teaching and learning activities in History. Year 7 students were mesmerised with their study on Ancient China. Students learned all about the long line of dynasties, the Great Wall of China and the famous Terracotta Warrior artifacts, engaging with their ADAMANT tool to support source analysis.

Year 7 will have the opportunity in week 10 to discover all about Chinese calligraphy, expressing their creativity, art form and new found knowledge on the ancient Chinese Confucius proverbs. Some Year 7 classes will be involved in designing their own T-shirts using calligraphy and ancient Confucius proverbs/symbols.

Year 9 students have had the opportunity to connect with Australian soldier experiences from WWI and WWII. Our students learned all about empathy, care and what evokes these feelings and why empathy is important in understanding and appreciating our historical past.

Our students ‘put themselves in the ANZAC shoes’ and tried to sense their emotions, coupled with the ability to imagine what the ANZAC soldiers might have been thinking or feeling while fighting in the atrocious trenches at Gallipoli.

Elective History students had the opportunity to engage with some innovative lessons introduced by our practicum teacher Ms Ladas on the Civil Rights Movement. Fun was had while undertaking lessons on film adaptations and completing comparative studies on Indigenous Australians and the Civil Right Movement.

Year 8 Geography students have been learning all about global interconnections, including the ways people are connected to a place. Students have been successfully demonstrating their numeracy skills in Geography by applying mathematical concepts of proportion, ratio, percentage and scale when working out space and movement of people. Students continue to work on these ‘transferable skills ’ learning to apply them across all of their Key Learning Areas.

Our Year 10 students have been investigating human wellbeing and development. This includes the studying of inequalities between countries with a case study on an NGO, a real live organisation ‘Essential Need’. Students are studying water poverty in Nigeria and looking at ‘live data’ and the crucial role NGO’s play in sustaining our environment. The boys learned about the United Nations SDG Target 6.1 ‘By 2030 to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all’. Our students are studying ‘Essential Need’s’ current project in Nigeria where experts have developed a sophisticated mapping software that allows to map countries around the world identifying the problems and providing management tools and sustainable ways of working towards solving water poverty in many countries. Our students have been following this process and it has provided them with an invaluable opportunity to experience first hand data and the most up to date solutions, knowledge and awareness of the global challenges facing us.

Our Commerce and Work Education students have been exploring the ‘world of work’. In both of these electives the boys have been studying future pathways and making vital decisions regarding future subject choices, alternative pathway options and transitions. I would like to welcome Ms Chow to the HSIE faculty and to the Work Education classes for this term.

I would also like to thank all of our students for their hard work this term and the amazing HSIE staff for their passion and dedication. We wish all our boys and their families a happy and safe holiday.

Ms Doulakis 

Head Teacher HSIE

Sample of student work in History (Empathy task) 

By Jerry. D 

The First Australian Imperial Force Unit of the 5th Division September 15th, 1915

Dear Maria,

Spring, summer, autumn and winter… Many seasons have come and gone, but the one with you isn’t coming around. My days at war are long to last; I will stand proud of my family through death and remorse. We fight day to day in trenches, a line of defense dug into the ground for shelter and coverage. The trenches are used to help support our unit as a place to rest, eat, attack and defend. Layers of defense were built up in the trenches, one being sandbags filled with earth and mud. They are stacked on top of one another and lined the walls of trenches to provide protection. In front of sandbags, there would be a layer of barbed wires to prevent the enemy from crossing over into the trenches. We worked during the night and used the cover of darkness to observe enemy trenches. We could only sleep in the daytime, but only after morning duties. We work daily in dirty and unpleasant conditions, especially during the winter. The trenches would be cold and often flooded with rainfall. Our feet would be soaked in water for days and weeks, giving us a sickening condition of standing in water and mud for a long time. Some of my mates even had their feet amputated. Through my war experience, some jobs included cleaning our weapons for inspection, refilling sandbags, fixing barbed wires and repairing collapsed trench walls. Another role employed was emptying the latrines. It was a very smelly and dirty job; everyone avoided doing it. We go through enemy shells and snipers on the front lines, which would almost fall on the trenches every day. We would also be hit by our artillery, raising the death number at the hands of our own weapons. Through this tremendous horror of death, the crimes of war scar me as I carry on my responsibility. Rats as giant as cats stole food and rations and damaged clothing and haversacks; these rats were overrun by dogs that helped clear the trenches. In the experience of hell, my life is threatened by the possibility of war. And here I thought to myself, the poster that invited me into war showed me an example of a job somewhat enjoyably easy. Gullible and regretful, I honestly just wanted to make you proud, along with my mom and dad. The money along with a promise, a promise to be home before Christmas. But may I state, not any amount of money can replace the life of a son. The tears that are lost, the blood that is spared, through the salvation of men, they will continue to fight; As for I will. Dehorned and attempted, my own country has thrown me into a death field, where we must fight for our own lives. Through poor weather conditions, injuries, small rations, and minimal sleep, we still move on. But my fight won't stop; my power to thrive further is incomparable to any other soldier. I will do anything that would take the will to come home safely. The trenches were supposed to be a place that provided protection and shelter. Nevertheless, it did its job but wasn’t what I was expecting. Through the excitement and joy of many soldiers, I too, was fooled by the fact that the trenches were a nice place to be. Instead, encountered with a disgusted and cramped space, the trenches appealed to nobody’s taste and in comparison, to the reality of what it was to be. When we’re not fighting or working, we usually rest up or get some food to eat. At the start of the war, we were given a generous ration of meat and vegetables every day, but food became more limited and unpleasant as the war went on. Stale bread, hard and tasteless biscuits, pea soup and watery stew. Food was never hot, and we were often left hungry at the end of the day. We are given free time to rest, pick lice out of our clothing and write letters home. Another one of my mates' mothers even brought us some cards to play. We took turns being on watch duty at the lookout posts whilst the others worked and rested. Caught sleeping at the post was a severe crime, heard that a soldier would have been faced with death or imprisonment. It’s almost been three months since we were deployed into battle, where many soldiers have already died. I, along with many other lucky soldiers, am still holding ground in the battle today. I believe I may not make it out, through the rashes of blood I witness in my eyes, through the death of steps, on no man’s land. Tomorrow I may see the sunrise, the next, I may not. Who knows what path lies ahead of me, just know that I am always with you.