Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to develop their critical thinking and writing skills. We look at different interpretations of the past and consider the notion that our own perspective has a significant influence on how we view the world.
To broaden the experience, the course also includes an excursion in the Sydney area to explore evidence and artefacts associated with their class work content.
Contact
Head of History: Julia Kerr
Email: [email protected]
Year 9
Year 9 Elective History – Power, Personalities and the Stories We’re Told
We begin in Ancient Rome, a world of political chaos, betrayal and ambition. Through a film such as Gladiator, we’ll unpack how history is constructed. Can movies be trusted? Who decides what version of the past survives? You’ll learn how historians investigate evidence and challenge the idea that “history is written by the winners.”
From there, we dive into the dramatic fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Empire. Why did democracy collapse? How did leaders like Julius Caesar and the Julio-Claudians turn a republic into a dictatorship? Expect scandal, propaganda, and some truly wild emperors.
Next, we explore powerful personalities across time. You’ll meet Ching Shih, the Chinese pirate queen who commanded tens of thousands and defeated governments. Then you’ll choose a modern personality as a class to analyse: a hero, villain, or somewhere in between. What makes someone historically significant? As part of our study of historical personalities, you’ll also complete your own historical investigation, selecting a figure from history and building a case about their significance using historical methodology.
Finally, we examine Crime and Punishment through witches and pirates. Why were witches hunted? When is a pirate a criminal and when are they a privateer? How do societies decide what justice looks like?
This course is about questioning power, challenging stories, and thinking for yourself about the past and how it shapes the world you live in today.
Year 10
Year 10 Elective begins with an exploration of the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Bosworth, Richard III and the disappearance of the princes in the tower. Students follow Richard’s journey (using the sources as our evidence trail) to the discovery of his human remains in 2012. By the end of the unit some students are ardent Ricardians! We study a film related to Richard III and embed this in a unit entitled History Goes To Hollywood where we assess film as a legitimate form of representing the past.
Up next is a deep dive into the assassination of JFK. After scrutinising the key events that took place during Kennedy’s presidency, students independently explore the various theories surrounding the events of November 1963. Students examine these findings in a class presentation.
Ancient history is not neglected with a possible case study on Alexander the Great, Women in Ancient Greece or Celtic Warfare. Students consider the ways in which ancient societies and cultures were influenced by different values and motives. The studying of ancient artefacts will be developed through a bespoke excursion to the Chau Chak Wing Museum at Sydney University.
Throughout the course, students will have the opportunity to develop their critical thinking and writing skills through an independent research topic which incorporates the use of A.I. as part of the research process.
Finally, we pose the question ‘Was the dropping of the bomb morally right?’ Most of the debate over the atomic bombing of Japan focuses on the unanswerable question of whether it was necessary. We also look carefully at the moral arguments for and against the action authorised by President Truman in August 1945.
Assessment
Elective History is assessed a variety of ways such as independent research, formal tests, individual and group presentations and problem solving source activities.