Humanities

MR JOHN WALLACE acting head of humanities

It has been a pleasure to be Acting Head of Department of Humanities while Mr Robert Ritchie has been on extended study leave for the past two years. Mr Ritchie has resigned from this position and the new Head of Department, Humanities, from 2019 is Ms Nathasha Rosky recruited from St Hildas. We welcome her to the Department and I know the staff will give her their full support. The Department has a knowledgeable and passionate teaching staff whose professionalism has been a hallmark of what has been a very successful year. Assistant Head of Department, Mr Lindsay Close, has been excellent in support and a passionate teacher of Senior and Junior History. Mr John Gayton and Mr Denzel Wilson have had a superb year in Junior History and the excellent results in the external Australian Schools' History Competition is a reflection on the passion and expertise of their classroom teaching. Mr Jaye Beutel has taken the mantle of Senior Geography and has filled this role admirably. We wish him well on his promotion to a new school in 2019. Mr Conan Bland has again this year used his understanding of Australian Military History in the Year 10 Australian Curriculum History course. Mr Tony Watt has filled the role of Junior Geography teacher, also utilising the expertise of Griffith University Geography staff on class excursions. Year 7 teachers Ms Julie Watts and Mr Anthony Petrie have assisted in the teaching of Year 7 History this year. This excellent group of teachers has assisted our boys in attaining high standards of learning, which has been reflected in external History and Geography competitions and senior submissions in Ancient and Modern History.

In Ancient History with a cohort of 22 boys six VHA standards were achieved by Oliver Robb Gladwin, Harry Cox, Joshua Moss, Sashin Andawera, Ethan Mahon and Sameel Vahidy. In Senior Modern History with a cohort of 46 boys eight VHA standards were achieved by Oliver Robb Gladwin, Ben Funnell, Sashin Andawera, Hugh Knudsen, Jacob Dwyer, Ethan Mahon, Sameel Vahidy and Luke McIlwraith. In the Senior Ancient and Modern History research many boys from the cohort produced outstanding inquiry based assignments for which they are to be commended. The knowledge and experience gained from the completion of these research assignments will set the boys up well for their future tertiary studies. Boys from Years 7 to 10 also entered the Australian Schools' History Competition. The School supports participation in external competitions as in 2019 the new assessment format for senior students will involve external exams. It also allows for transparency in academic performance. In the Year 7 cohort, Jeremiah Gan and Thomas McClintock attained High Distinctions, and Cormack Anning and Zen Pizzinat attained Distinctions. Our Year 8 cohort fared particularly well with Arthur O’Keefe and Jack Ware achieving a High Distinction. Distinctions in this age group were awarded to Justin Bolton, Murdoch Johnstone and Zach Miller-Wright. A High Distinction in Year 9 was awarded to Victor Wu. Distinctions in Year 9 were awarded to Benjamin Welch, Dylan Selby, Lachlan Lane and Herschel Aloysius. In Year 10, a High Distinction was awarded to Joe Castor and a Distinction to Vishaak Gangasandra. In the Australian Schools' Geography Competition Distinctions were awarded to Vishaak Gangasandra and Lucas Piper. The Department will continue to encourage boys to participate in external competitions next year.

In October, Mr Wallace, Mr Wilson and Mr Close attended the Australian History Teachers' Conference in Canberra, the nation’s capital. The venue was the Australian National Library and the theme of the conference was People, Power and Perspectives. The conference was well attended and the quality of the presenters was exceptional, with Professor Bettany Hughes the keynote speaker. Professor Hughes was the narrator of the popular BBC TV series Eight Days That Made Rome. The title of her speech at the opening ceremony was Women in the Ancient World. She is also the recipient of several literary awards. In August Mr Wallace visited Washington DC and marvelled at the amazing history spectacles of American History on display. In many ways Canberra is a miniature version of Washington DC.

Humanities is a subject all boys need to experience in their time at TSS. It teaches empathy and compassion as well as providing boys with the skills of analysis of historical and geographical sources. Humanities is a domain of learning where boys learn about themselves and the world around them. So necessary in today’s continually changing and volatile world.