Human society and its environment

Recently, Mr Summerhayes' Year 11 Ancient History class, along with Wiradjuri Elder, Mr Geoff Anderson went on a field trip to Ulan to view an Aboriginal archaeological site in the form of a rock shelter. In the rock shelter, known as 'Hand on Rock', many hand stencils in red ochre can be seen that could be up to thousands of years old. Students carried out fieldwork on the site as part of their study of ancient Australia. 

Mr Anderson told many stories and gave many insights into what the cave and the area may have been used for. Mr Summerhayes also used his university education in Aboriginal archaeology to show students other evidence of Aboriginal occupation such as stone scrapers and tool making grinding grooves.

Students were also taken on a walk down the Goulburn River to an area referred to as Drip Rock. Students were able to experience the natural water source that the local Wiradjuri people would have made use of for thousands of years as water naturally seeps through a sandstone rock gorge into pools below.

Year 11 Modern and Ancient History classes of Parkes High School again held their annual 'History Express' museum in the LP Johnson hall recently. The Parkes High History Express is part of the Preliminary Ancient and Modern History courses which sees students pick a topic that they are interested in and produce a museum style display. The display was open to the public.

The exhibit displayed a variety of work from the students in a variety of chosen topics of the modern and ancient world.

The displays were of an especially high quality, with many being very professional and very large. One Ancient History display, the work of Faith Hanstock, involved the creation of a temple-like structure which looked at famous women of the Egyptian world such as Hatshepsut and Cleopatra. Another display by  Sakiasi  Sodrodro displayed the rebellion of the Roman slave Spartacus.

The bulk of these displays had an interactive component which allowed visitors to delve into the topic that was being  displayed. The event was extremely popular, with many parents, friends and community members attending the display. Parents and teachers were very proud of all the Modern and Ancient History students and commended them on their effort and dedication to their learning.