During Term 2, Humanities teachers have been extremely busy organising a wide range of excursions for Senior students, bringing the curriculum alive and allowing students to practically apply theories and undergo valuable learning experiences. In Year 9 Geography, all classes went to the Chadstone Shopping Centre in order to study pedestrian movements and interconnections that exist between various retail stores.

In Unit 1 Economics, students have been learning about the principles of supply and demand and the factors that can influence price. Mr Tim Hay organised an excursion to the South Melbourne Market for the class to observe how these principles operate within the market in order to write a research report. In Unit 1 Twentieth Century History, students visited the Holocaust Museum on Wednesday 24 May with Ms Ingrid Hildebrand and Mrs Elka Gaensler. Students had the opportunity to converse with a holocaust survivor and understand the impact of this significant global tragedy during Second World War. The excursion was an important empathy-provoking experience.

Finally, the Years 9 and 10 elective Global Justice has had a very active term thanks to the commitment of their teacher, Ms Ingrid Hildebrand. On Monday 15 May, the class visited the Old Magistrates Court and Old Melbourne Gaol where they took part in a courtroom role-play based on a teenage culpable driving lawsuit. Nikita Taylor (Year 10) said “The courtroom role play, was very inclusive which I enjoyed. We were able to participate in the practice court hearing which gave us a great insight into sanctions.” Furthermore, Alessandra Krause (Year 10) said “I liked learning about how the gaol worked in the past and the thinking behind it. The court case was really fun and it made me think about how hard it would be to be a judge because they have to make very difficult decisions.” The Global Justice class also held their own political election campaign luncheon, whereby three different groups each created a political party, and advocated their policies to teachers, who then voted for their preferred party.

Organising excursions can be a very time-consuming process for teachers and I sincerely thank the dedication of all Humanities staff for their contributions to these wonderful learning experiences.