Sacred Heart College

Earth and Environmental Science has had a great start at Sacred Heart College thus far. Starting in semester 2 of 2023, 25 year 11 students were the first students in the history of the school to study the subject. A particular highlight for students was the camp to Wallaroo, which was combined with a year 11 geography class. During this camp, students had the opportunity to learn about the community of Wallaroo and how local influences such as mining, agriculture and tourism impact the environment. This trip helped solidify the idea of Earth as a four-sphere system for students. A particular highlight for all students was the authentic wood-oven pizzas that were cooked by the hosts at CU@Wallaroo.

2024 has seen 30 students studying Stage 2 EES at SHC, split across two classes. Recently, students visited the Urrbrae wetlands to carry out water-testing to determine if the wetlands are effective in improving water quality. Students were engaged and enjoyed this day excursion and are currently completing their deconstruction and design reports for this excursion. As students continue to work through this, they are also planning their external earth systems investigation, which replaces the traditional exam of most Stage 2 sciences, something that most EES students are grateful for. Although challenging for some students to come up with an appropriate research question, the students are enjoying the real life application of their earth systems study.