Social Sciences at Oxley
As cyclone Alfred hit Australia’s east coast, Donald Trump announced tariffs on more than 130 countries, and debates around international migration to Australia continue, many are left grappling with the complexities of our world. At Oxley, we help students to understand these complex issues and ensure that when they finish their Oxley journey, they will be challenge ready. Social Sciences courses including Geography, Commerce, Global Studies, Business Studies, Economics and Legal Studies play a key role in ensuring that Oxley graduates are equipped to take on everything the world throws at them. We want students to show courage to ask difficult questions, we want them to be kind and respectful by appreciating that there are many differing perspectives, and we want them to seek wisdom by delving deeper into the issues.
In Term 1, Year 10 Geographers travelled to Warilla as part of a unit on Environmental Change and Management to see first-hand the $15 million reconstruction of the Warilla Beach seawall by Shellharbour City Council. The seawall, built in the 1960s, was no longer adequate to cope with pressures of coastal development and the increasingly common East Coast Low weather events. As images emerged of the severe coastal erosion caused by cyclone Alfred later in the term, students could empathise with different stakeholders and offer ideas about what could be done to replace the 4 million cubic metres of sand that had been eroded from Gold Coast beaches.
Later this term, Year 8 Geographers will travel to Warragamba Dam as part of ‘Water in the World’ unit. They will develop an appreciation of the role of the dam in times of drought and in flood management. The Warragamba Dam provides over 80% of Sydney’s drinking water and given the Wingecarribee River that flows past Oxley ends up in the dam, students will appreciate that local actions can have impacts well beyond our local area.
In Week 3, students in Year 7 to Year 10 will have the opportunity to take part in the Australian Geography Competition, a contest for Australian secondary school students, assessing their geographical knowledge and skills. The Competition is completed online and consists of multiple-choice questions testing geographical knowledge and skills. In 2024 over 54,000 students from 607 schools took part in the competition and in 2023 we had a student whose result placed them in the top 1% of their age group in Australia. Stage 4 and 5 Geography and History are semesterised, so all students have been provided with the opportunity to take part at this time as the competition only runs in Term 2 each year. If you have not already done so, please complete the relevant permission on the Oxley App.
Although the news can be unsettling at times, I encourage parents and carers to make time each week to discuss some of these complex issues to help students make sense of the world. In the words of Barack Obama “The study of geography is about more than just memorising places on a map. It’s about understanding the complexity of our world, appreciating the diversity of cultures that exists across continents. And in the end, it’s about using all that knowledge to help bridge divides and bring people together.”
Ruth Shedden
Head of Social Sciences