General overview
The Great Lakes College, Forster Campus includes History, Geography and Commerce. History and Geography are compulsory core subjects that are semesterised for all Stage 4 and 5 students. Commerce is a popular elective offered to our stage 5 students. All of the programs taught in the HSIE Faculty incorporate dynamic teaching practices including The 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning and the 4MAT Learning Cycle, meaning that the learning needs of the 21st Century learner are catered to. Further to this, all programs are mapped to the Literacy Continuum and contain Numeracy activities throughout.
Geography
The below table reflects the areas of study that may be taught during Stage 4 and 5 Geography:
Stage 4
- Landscapes and landforms
- Place and liveability
- Water in the world
- Interconnections
- Fieldwork
- Geographical skills
100 hours minimum teaching time
Stage 5
- Sustainable biomes
- Environmental change and management
- Changing places
- Human wellbeing
- Fieldwork
- Geographical skills
100 hours minimum teaching time
History
The below table reflects the areas of study that may be taught during Stage 4 and 5 History:
Stage 4
The Ancient World (50 hours minimum teaching time)
- Depth study 1: Investigating the ancient past
- Depth study 2: The Mediterranean world
- Depth study 3: The Asian world (India or China)
The Ancient to the Modern World (50 hours minimum teaching time)
- Depth study 4: The Western and Islamic world (vikings, medieval Europe, the Ottoman Empire, Renaissance Italy)
- Depth study 5: The Asian Pacific World (Angkor/Khmer Empire, Japan under the Shoguns or the Polynesian expansion across the Pacific)
- Depth study 6: Expanding contacts (Mongol expansion, The Black Death in Asia, Europe and Africa, the Spanish conquest of the Americas or Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples, colonisation and contact history)
A site study must be completed during Stage 4.
Stage 5
The Making of the Modern World (50 hours minimum teaching time):
- Depth study 1: Making a better world? (The Industrial Revolution, Movement of peoples or Progressive ideas and movements)
- Depth study 2: Australia and Asia (Making a Nation or Asian and the world)
- Core study – Depth Study 3: Australians at War (Mandatory Study of World War 1 and World War 2)
The Modern World and Australia (50 hours minimum teaching time)
- Core Study – Depth Study 4: Rights and Freedoms 1045-Present (Mandatory Study)
- Depth Study 5: The Globalising World (Popular culture, The environment movement or Migration experiences)
- Depth Study 6: School developed topic drawn from either of the overviews, such as Australia in the Vietnam War era, The Holocaust, Women's history, UN peacekeeping, A decade study or The Gulf Wars and the war in Afghanistan.
A site study must be completed during Stage 5.
Subject requirements
All students will be required to have the following equipment:
- 164 page A4 lines notebook
- Blue and red pencil
- Lead pencil
- Coloured pencils
- Ruler, eraser, pencil sharpener, scissors and glue
Assessment
Students will be assessed in relation to the outcomes they achieve. Assessment may include:
- Class tests and formal examinations
- Research tasks
- Skills based tasks
- Class work
- Oral presentations
- Group Work
Commerce
The below table reflects the topics that may be taught in Stage 5 Commerce. The core and optional topics may be studied in any order or pattern.
Core units (40 indicative hours each)
- Consumer choice
- Personal finance
- Law and society
- Employment issues
Optional topics (15-25 indicative hours each)
- Investing
- E-commerce
- Towards independence
- Travel
- Our economy
- Running a business
- Promoting and selling
- Global links
- Political involvement
- Law in action
- Community participation
- School-developed option
In addition, students may also participate in the ASX Sharemarket Game, Law Society of N.S.W. Mock Trial Competition, C.P.A. Australia Plan Your Own Enterprise Competition.
Subject requirements
All students will be required to have the following equipment:
- 128 page A4 lines notebook
- Blue and red pencil
- Lead pencil
- Coloured pencils
- Ruler, eraser, pencil sharpener, scissors and glue
Students will be assessed in relation to the outcomes they achieve. Assessment may include:
- Class tests and formal examinations
- Research tasks
- Skills based tasks
- Class work
- Oral presentations
- Group Work.