Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2011

HUMANITIES FACULTY

ffiffiffiWffiffiW &ruffi WMffi ru&Wffiffiru&fu ffiffi ffiffiffiffiffi fuffi M MSJULTE HENNE'' Ey,HeadofHistory For the first time in Australia's history, there is a national curriculum that describes what all students f rom Foundation to Year 10 should learn in English, ffiathematics, science and history.

CE), Year 8: the Ancient to the Modern \A/orld (c.650 CE - c.I750),Year 9: the Making of the Modern World (1750 - 1918) and Year 10: the Modern World and Australia (1918 - present). The Flistory Department at Brisbane Girls Grammar has played an active and ongoing role in the consultation process to inform and shape the history curriculum in Years 7 to 10. It has begun the task of reviewing, revising and rewriting its current curriculum to bring it in line with the scope and demands of the national curriculum. The History Department is committed to delivering a first class history curriculum curriculum designed to do more than just teach students about knowledg. and ideas but also how to think about knowledge and ideas, and their place in the world.

December 2010, focuses on World and Australian Flistory, the analysis and use of sources and historical interpretation. Through the history curriculum students investigate broad questions such as: FIow do we know about the ancient past? What k"y beliefs and values emerged and how did they influence societies? How did the nature of global conflict change during the twentieth century? These provide a framework for developing students' historical knowledge and understanding and skills. The curriculum is wide in scope covering an expansive chronology aimed to help students understand broad patterns of historical change. Year 7 focuses on the Ancient world (c.60,000 BCtr - c.650

History's inclusion in the first four subjects in the national curriculum is recognition that historical knowledge is fundamental to understanding ourselves and others, and that it is central to who we are as a nation. The place of history as a core compulsory subject has been long recognised at Brisbane Girls Grammar where it receives the same timetabled allocation as English, mathematics and science. rds a consequence, the School is well placed to implement the new curriculum in history. While the current Australian Curriculum for history is not without its detractors and flaws, it provides a starting point in the journey to develop a rigorous, world class curriculum. The current curriculum for history in Years 7 to 10, released in

ffifuffiffi&fu ffiffiWffiffiffiruffiMffiffi ffiru WMffi MffiffiWffiffiW ffifu&ffiffiffiffiffiM At the end of every school yea[ Year 10 students gather together to stage a mock United Nations forum in the Gehrmann Theatre. Inspired by the opening lines of the

were arriving on Australian shores) and in 20L0, democracy in Burma (after the release ofAung Sun Suu Kyi from house detention). The United Nations forum provides students with the opportunity not only to learn about important global issues, but also the workings of the IJnited Nations, the history, government and policy positions of participating member states and the nature of international diplom acy and power play.

United Nations' Charter'We the Peopl.', they come together in a spirit of goodwill and co-operation to discuss, debate, lobby and eventually vote on a topic of international importance. Each year the topic of debate is chosen to reflect an import a nt, and often controversial, global issue of the time. In 2008 the topic was capital punishment (the year the Bali bombers were executed); in 2009, the rights of asylum seekers (a time when record numbers of boatpeople

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