History so far has been very interesting and intriguing, although we haven’t been in class to learn, we still understand. We have learnt about WWII and to get into more depth, we’ve learnt about how it started and why it started. In the unit of WWII, we branched out to other topics, such as, the Interwar, the causes of WWII, how Hitler rose and created Nazism, the course of the war in Europe and the Holocaust. Something I learnt out of this was the Treaty of Versailles and how it was made after WWI – saying that if the rules were broken then the specific country who broke the rules had to repair the damage they did to the Allied countries – although Germany disregarded the rule and decided to do what they wanted, putting other countries in danger. During this first term of history, I’ve enjoyed learning about the causes of WWII such as the Great Depression, which started in August 1929 and ended in March 1933 although only a few countries were affected by this big issue, it is still noted down in history. Now we are learning about the Kokoda campaign and the track that the Australian soldiers walked while the Japanese bombed them. 1 million soldiers participated also 34,000 people passed away and 23,000 people were left wounded. I have taken so much information from this and cannot wait to learn even more.
Morena Ventureira, 10 Marin-Karrang
In Year 7 Humanities, we learned about Civics and Citizenship in Australia. As Australian citizens, there are six values that we hold dear: freedom, equality, compassion, inclusion, responsibility and a ‘fair go’. Each of these values makes Australia a multicultural, safe and desirable place to live. There are no limitations to these values and can be seen in workspaces, schools, households and even in public. Under Australian law, no person will be discriminated against or be disadvantaged because of their race or religion. No one will be denied job opportunities because of their appearance. Australians will also look after those who are in need as well as welcome everyone with open arms. Everyone is treated as no less of a human as anyone else and has an equal chance at success and happiness in their life. Because of this, many people from many countries all over the world have chosen to make Australia their home; to live the fair and peaceful life that they dream of. In holding and protecting these values, Australians are then able to participate actively and responsibly to contribute productively within society.
Leila Alves 7CO
In History over the past term, we Year 10 students have picked up where we left off from Year 9 Humanities, beginning to study World War II after concluding previous lessons on World War I. We’ve investigated the events which caused the Second World War, the war’s effect on many different countries, the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party, the Holocaust, and the use of propaganda within WWII Germany.
Over the past few months in this class, I’ve taken away quite a lot, but what is most interesting is how WWII was not only a fight for power, but also involved a lot of mental manipulation and other non-physical factors which lasted for years. This includes how the use of propaganda affected Germans into following Hitler and agreeing with Nazi values - it was an eye-opener into the psychological factors which contributed to WWII in addition to the violence.
My favourite part of this class so far has been applying previous knowledge to analyse propaganda heavily utilised throughout Germany at the time. Skills learnt in many different subjects were put to use to inspect primary sources, only further expanding our knowledge of history.
Talia Silvio, 10 Lingiari
During this term in Year 10 Civics and Citizenship, we have been learning about the Australian government. We have covered a variety of topics including what a constitution is, how the government is formed and the roles of different personnel involved within parliament. We then drew comparisons between the Australian government and the Indonesian government to look at the similarities and differences. It is important to understand and learn about our government as it gives us an understanding and appreciation of how Australia became the country that we proudly live in today.
Nicole Santos, 10 Murphy-Wandin