St John Paul II College Nicholls eNewsletter

Teaching & Learning - Integrated Humanities (IH)

The 7 Integrated Humanities space was an exciting place to be during the Open Night at JPC last week.

One of the most interesting elements of Open Night was the inquiry from parents about “What is IH?” and “What makes this different from other high schools?”

On the night, the IH team was able to explain our central approach - how we can provide a smooth transition for students from primary school to high school based on an integrated approach for studies in humanities. This means having the same teachers for a significant portion of the week and having a curriculum that is designed to transform the content from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) to meet the needs and interests of students. It means providing a localised approach to learning every day so students can make connections.

Students write stories about individual streets in Canberra and poems about trees in our own backyards. We look at the water supply of Canberra, study the environmental challenges in the ACT and look at how population trends might change in the future. We follow Canberra elections and ACT news which is a local connection that students can find links to their studies. We hope that students feel that the learning is relevant and vital and they have the content to build a worldview that is well-informed and considerate of others.

There are wonderful links to the world around us – for example, our study of ancient China will be a fascinating one this year with the new online resources for the Terracotta warriors. However, a real focus for IH is to provide opportunities for students to make connections in their world and then to extend that every day.

It was wonderful to have some of JPC’s Year 8 students discuss their experiences in growth and belonging fostered by this morning. Overall, a great night and certainly a great time to talk about IH.

Mr John Cole
7 IH Coordinator
Mathieu House