In human society and its environment (HSIE), both subjects of history and geography are mandatory from Kindergarten to Year 10.
In HSIE, students explore varied subjects in human society and its environment to learn about history, geography, people, societies and culture.
Students also have an opportunity to learn more about people and the societies and environments in which they live through elective subjects.
A large number of individual subjects make up the key learning area of HSIE in which students:
- research, gather and analyse information
- question and make judgements
- write for a variety of purposes.
The HSIE faculty offers a broad range of courses.
Year 7
All Year 7 students complete the Mandatory Stage 4 History Course.
Year 8
All Year 8 students complete the Mandatory Stage 4 Geography Course.
Year 9 & 10
All Year 9 and 10 students complete the Mandatory Stage 5 Geography and History courses. In each year they do 1 semester each of Geography and History.
Students also have the option of studying Commerce and/or History Elective in Year 9 and 10.
Year 11 & 12
The senior courses offered are:
- Ancient History
- Economics
- History Extension
- Legal Studies
- Modern History
Co-Curricular Activities & Competitions
Clubs
- GeoClub
- History Club
- BOSC (Business Club)
- Ruse Politics
Incursions/Excursions
Opportunities vary from year to year, but some of the regular opportunities our students enjoy include:
- Ancient/Medieval Weapons and Armour Show for Year 7 History
- Geography Fieldwork incursions and excursions
- HSC Study Days: Modern History, Ancient History, Legal Studies, Latin and Economics
- Japanese Immersion Day
- Macquarie University Museum
- Museum exhibitions when relevant
- Rwandan Genocide survivor incursion
- School trip to Japan
- Senior Classics Dinner (Years 11 and 12)
- Year 8 Latin Camp
- Year 11 Modern History students visit the Sydney Jewish Museum
Competitions
We encourage our gifted and talented students to participate in a range of competition, some of which include:
- AEBSC Business Studies Competition for Year 10 Commerce Students
- AEBSC Economics Competition for Year 11 and 12 Economics Students
- Anime Drawing Competition
- ASX Stock Market Game
- Australian Computational and Linguistics Olympiad (OzCLO)
- Australian Geography Competition for Years 8, 9 and 10
- Australian History Competition
- Ethics Olympiad
- History Mastermind Competition for Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 History students
- J.A. Thompson History Debating for Year 10 and 11 History students
- Japanese Writing Competition
- Kirby Cup Western Sydney University High School Mooting Competition for Year 11 Legal Studies Students
- Latin Speaking exam
- National History Competition
- National Latin Exam
- Nengajo Competition
- The Law Society of NSW Mock Mediation Competition
- The Law Society of NSW Mock Trial Competition
- The Philosothon Project
- The Premier's Anzac Memorial Scholarship (PAMS) for Year 10 and 11 History students
- The Simpson Prize Competition
- Tiger Global Case Competition - Business Studies Competition for students aged 13 to 18.