Who really holds power, and what happens when people stop believing in the systems meant to hold it in check?

In Term 1, You've Got the Power, you'll explore power itself through critical theory, examining how wealth, class and the state shape society and control people's lives. Drawing on thinkers like Marx and bell hooks, you'll question who really benefits from the systems we live in, and reflect critically on your own position within them. 

In Term 2, the focus shifts to Democracy in Danger testing these ideas against Australia's actual political system. You'll investigate the Constitution and referendums, how policy really gets made, and the rise of "sovereign citizens" who reject the legitimacy of the state. You'll examine how misinformation erodes trust in democracy, compare Australia's system to another in the Asia-Pacific, and finish by running your own mock parliament.

What makes you, you? How much of that is wiring, and how much is the world around you? 

In this interdisciplinary Science/Humanities elective, you'll explore the organ behind every thought, feeling, and decision you've ever made - your brain!

In the first Term, in Meet Your Mind, you'll investigate how different brain regions and networks of neurons work together, what happens when the brain is injured, and how modern technology lets scientists see the brain in action. You'll learn how neurons fire, connect, and coordinate the body's response to the world. 

Then in the second Term Learning To Be Me, you'll zoom out from biology to identity, using Erikson's eight psychosocial stages to explore how nature, nurture, culture, and community shape who we become across a lifetime. You'll examine real historical psychological experiments and start to build a deeper understanding of yourself, your identity, and the people around you.

Life is short, so let’s start asking some of the biggest questions that there are!

In this introduction to Philosophy, you'll grapple with the questions that have puzzled thinkers for thousands of years: Are you the same person you were five years ago? Do you actually have free will, or does it just feel that way? Can you ever really know anything for certain? Through classic thought experiments you'll debate, argue, and pick apart the ideas of history's greatest philosophers, then build and defend arguments of your own. Philosophy won't give you neat answers. What it will give you is the ability to think clearly, argue rigorously, and consider perspectives you don't already hold. By the end of this subject, you'll know how to ask better questions about what it means to be human.

You already know more ancient mythology than you think - Greek gods, Egyptian pharaohs, maybe even stories passed down through games, films, or family. This subject takes that curiosity and turns it into real historical inquiry. 

In the first Term, you'll explore how mythology and belief shaped real societies, investigating Greek gods and the Delphic Oracle, Egyptian beliefs about death and the afterlife, and the mythology of a major Asian civilisation. You will ask what these stories reveal about power, social order, and who got to call themselves a god. In the second Term, you'll examine how ancient societies built and sustained empires, from Rome's expansion, law, and the rise of Christianity, to a second great empire of the classes choosing from the Middle East or Asia. You'll compare how military power, law, and religion combined to hold vast empires together, and why some endured while others fell.

In this subject students explore how power, diplomacy and human rights shape our interconnected world. 

Through immersive simulations, they respond to a global disaster as international negotiators, run a digital activism campaign on a human rights issue, and take on the role of shipping magnates navigating global trade routes. Students investigate the tension between individual and collective rights, the legacy of the Cold War, and the rise of new economic powers, before stepping into high-stakes negotiations over the South China Sea. Along the way, they compare hard and soft power, from military alliances to K-pop and Bollywood, and learn to spot propaganda and misinformation in global media. 

Students finish the semester equipped to think critically about international cooperation, civic participation and Australia's place in a complex global system.

Why do societies sort people into groups, and what happens to the people who don't fit the mould? 

In the first Term, you'll build a sociologist's toolkit: exploring how identity is shaped by family, school, and media, how social norms are constructed (and policed), and why some behaviours get labelled "deviant" while others don't. You'll examine in-groups, out-groups, and the invisible rules that decide who belongs, as well as learning about the concept of intersectionality. 

In the second Term, you'll put that toolkit to work, investigating real movements for change around the world. You could explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples' fight for rights and freedoms, LGBTQ+ rights movements, disability rights, international gender movements, or youth-led climate activism in the style of Greta Thunberg. You'll examine moments in history when marginalised groups demanded recognition on the world stage, and you'll finish by asking: when does advocacy actually win, and why?

Why does a $5 t-shirt cost so little, and who really pays the price? This subject investigates the hidden connections between what we buy, where we travel, and the people and places affected along the way. 

In the first Term, you'll trace the global journey of fast fashion, uncovering the supply chains behind your wardrobe and exploring how globalisation links consumers, workers and environments across the world, then ask what fairer, more ethical choices could look like. In the second Term, the focus shifts to tourism, exploring how destinations rise, change and sometimes buckle under their own popularity. You'll examine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives on tourism at Uluru, dive into a case study on Bali, step into a council debate simulation about a proposed tourism development, then design your own "ethical dream holiday", testing whether your perfect trip can also be a responsible one.

How does a modern, democratic nation descend into genocide in little more than a decade? 

In this subject, you'll investigate one of history's most confronting questions: how the political, economic and social crises of the 1920s and 30s created the conditions for fascism to take hold across Europe, and how Nazi Germany built a racial state that culminated in the systematic murder of six million Jews and millions of others. 

You'll examine the propaganda that made it possible, the leaders who drove it, the bystanders who enabled it, and the victims whose stories demand to be heard. Working with real primary sources, including speeches, photographs, testimonies, and documents, you'll develop the historical skills to understand not just what happened, but how, and why it was allowed to. 

This subject asks you to engage seriously with the past, because the lessons it holds for the present are too important to ignore.