Humanities
The captivating humanities program at Mentone Grammar enables students to develop the skills and knowledge required to analyse, evaluate and make meaning of the complex web of ideas, systems and processes that shape our world.
Humanities studies provide students with unique ways to understand how and why groups of people have settled where they have, organised their societies, developed means of generating and distributing wealth, developed codes, laws and belief systems, related to other groups of people and interacted with their physical environment.
In the Early Years, students are immersed in the areas of history, geography, economics and business, and civics and citizenship.
The program aims to develop students’ curiosity about how they view their importance, place and participation in the family, the neighbourhood and the broader community as well as studying Australia’s people and their unique environment.
An opportunity is provided for our younger students to focus on key concepts such as continuity and change, significance and perspectives; organised in two interrelated strands, Historical Knowledge and Understanding, and Historical Skills.
Australian History
There is an emphasis on Australian history so that students better understand Australian experiences including the past and present experiences of Indigenous Australians, their identity and the continuing value of their culture. Through their humanities studies, students develop their capacity and willingness to be active and informed citizens. Key inquiry questions provide a framework for developing a student’s historical knowledge, understanding and skills. Our students also love being introduced to our entrepreneurial studies where they actively engage in creating and operating their own businesses to learn what success looks like, how to set business goals and how to make a profit (hot tip – baked goods are always a winner in the classroom!).
How the World Works
As they reach the Middle Years, students will again get the opportunity to explore a broad range of humanities subjects. Throughout this stage, students begin to unpack the notion of financial literacy and what it means to be economically independent in economics, investigate the world around them through geography studies, identify a local issue and propose a solution in civics and citizenship, explore Australian Indigenous culture – a particular highlight which ties in with their Learning Journeys to Central Australia – along with studies into medieval and world war events in history studies, seek to understand the world around us and influences at play in our lives through sociology, and unpack the big questions of life in philosophy.
One of the popular highlights at this stage is when our students venture to Kryal Castle to explore the intriguing world of medieval knights, ladies-in-waiting and humble peasants as part of their medieval studies. Students take part in a range of hands-on activities, including leatherwork, archery, dressing in noble attire, and even watching a real-life medieval jousting tournament!
A Deeper Understanding
The program in the Senior Years allows students to explore electives such as Global Politics, 20th Century History, Geography, Australian and Global Politics, and History: Revolutions. This range of subjects is ideal preparation for enabling our students to have an impact on the future, as well as giving them the skills to develop and express their own values, and appreciate the values of others past and present.
Highlights in the Senior Years include students’ involvement in the Model United Nations program where they step into the shoes of ambassadors from around the world and discuss contentious global social and economic issues, and the conducting of field excursions to collect fascinating scientific data in geography studies.