Classics, History

History

History examines the past to understand the present.New Zealand history belongs in a wider global context.

The study of history at HVHS encompasses events occurring in New Zealand and/or global events involving or influencing New Zealanders. Themes covered include: Protest and change (Yr.11);

Fight for freedom (Yr.12) and Turning points (Yr.13).

History fires students’ curiosity and imagination It invites them to ask, and helps them answer, today’s questions by engaging with the past and imagining and speculating on possible futures.

History presents students with the dilemmas, choices, and beliefs of people in the past.

It connects students with the wider world as they develop their own identities and sense of place.

Students engage with history at personal, local, and international levels. They investigate the histories of their communities, New Zealand, and the wider world.

History is a research-led discipline History encourages an informed understanding of the origins of our diverse society in New Zealand.

An awareness of history inspires students to become confident, questioning, and empathetic individuals.

History prepares students for the future

It equips them with knowledge and skills that are valuable and useful throughout life. These include

• research techniques, the skills needed to process and synthesise varied and complex information,
• the skills needed to give clear and effective oral and written reasoning. The ability to think critically and articulate ideas are of central importance in the modern world.

With these skills, students enhance their employ-ability and are able to participate actively and critically in their societies.

 

Classical Studies

In Classical Studies we learn about the ancient societies of Greece and Rome by studying their literature, history, works of art and architecture and their social lives. The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer, and the Aeneid by Virgil are examples of the literature students might read and study. Myths and legends are also interesting sources which provide a way of looking at the thinking of ancient peoples. We look at buildings such as the temple on the Acropolis, the Parthenon, or the theatre at Epidaurus to earn about the Greeks, and the Colosseum and the Pantheon to learn about the Romans. We might study triumphal arches or columns, aqueducts and baths, or perhaps the houses and paintings in them at Pompeii. Wars such as those between the Greeks and the Persians, or the

Olympic Games, or the eruption of Mt Vesuvius are events which helped shape our world, and might be investigated. Great leaders like Julius Caesar or Perikles, or Augustus or thinkers such as Socrates are all topics that could be chosen by the teacher to help students understand where we came from and how our lives and communities have been influenced by these two ancient societies.