On the 22nd of November, Simon Wyatt-Spratt and Mike McDonnell attended the annual Chifley Senior Campus humanities award ceremony. The day marks the culmination of a year of hard work for the senior Chifley students. Students are receive awards in areas from business studies, to society and culture, and history. Mike and Simon were there to award the students for the essays they wrote as part of the University of Sydney’s Essay Writing Competition. This competition is held jointly by the University and Chifley Senior Campus and judged by academics from both the modern and ancient disciplines. The University and Chifley College Campus have been working together as part of an equity social inclusion program in order to encourage students to achieve academic excellence and to consider university as an option.
When it was time for the awards, Mike was invited to give a talk to the students, teachers and parents gathered on the merits of tertiary education for people from all walks of life. Following this, the highly commended essays were awarded. Tahlara Mazzelli was named the winner of the Modern History Essay competition. Tahlara was praised for writing an essay on Winston Churchill’s role in WW2, and the secret war in India. David Ibekaku was named the winner for the Ancient History Essay competition. David explored the value and limitations of Biblical and archaeological sources in an assessment of King David of Israel’s rule. After, commendations for Grace Major’s Personal Interest Project (the Society and Culture major work) and Allen Burias’s History Extension project were awarded. Both projects were of an impeccable standard this year.
Following the ceremony, the students, parents, teachers, and guests were invited to enjoy a pizza lunch together. Discussing the future plans of the freshly graduated ex-students and the year 12 students, we were relieved to find that many of them plan to go to the University of Sydney next year.
The Social Inclusion Program looks forward to working with Chifley Senior Campus again in 2020!