Year 9 Social Studies classes have covered many topics this year including NZ History, Antarctica and the Black Death.

Learning about the Black Death was a fun topic for students as they enjoyed learning all the gory details of those who suffered from the Black Death. Other activities included creating their own Crests/Coat of Arms. This year we have focused on blogging our learning and sharing what we have created.

As part of their research around Antarctica in Term 4, the Year 9 cohort visited the Antarctic Centre, Antarctica NZ and the Air Base to view the aircraft that travels to Antarctica. Students got to interact with penguins, see a 4D movie, and walk into an aircraft. This was definitely a major highlight for the year. We were also the first school to ever visit the aircraft in New Zealand and to visit Antarctica NZ to find out our role at Scott Base.

Year 10 Social Studies researched a number of different topics this year, including human rights, careers, migration, technology and change. The career unit was to help them with their choices around topics at Year 11, so hopefully they have all made good choices. The Human Rights unit kept them very engaged while learning about how people have been treated in various countries over hundreds of years and the fact that this is still happening today. Immigration allowed learners to see where they came from and what customs and ideas are now included in the everyday life of many New Zealanders. They also learned about the hardships that many went through to get to New Zealand.

Over the first 4 weeks of Term 4 they have worked in small groups to research and present information on various Extreme Natural Events. They have not only discovered how these natural events occur in the natural world but the impact they have on people and the environment. This work at both Year 9 and year 10 has been a stepping stone to their final Project Based Learning that occurred in the last four weeks of the term.