Charlotte D and Georgia D looked at the causes and consequences of the fall of the Romanovs and reflected:

 ‘We became involved with the National History Challenge as we wanted something that would expand our knowledge. This year's topic was Causes and Consequences. We first heard of the Romanov story in our History Elective class, and were drawn into the consequences that this event had on Russia. We could not believe that the remains of a family took more than a century to uncover and could have such an impact on a country and the entire world, so we decided to investigate further. 

The National History Challenge is a research based competition for students across Australia, with a different theme each year. Students have the choice of researching any topic providing it falls under the theme. Prizes are handed out for best in the grade across state and national levels, along with special categories which include winners across the state and country.

This competition taught us how to seek out important information and determine how important primary sources can be in an investigation. It also opened our eyes to how brutal the past century has been for Russia, especially from the 74 years that the USSR lasted for.’

Kaitlyn A and Laiba F focused their research on the local 1816 Appin Massacre. The students interviewed Sr Kerry Macdermott OLN and Mandy Edwards earlier in the year to assist them in this project. The girls reflected:

We entered the National History Competition because it was a new experience and we wanted to learn more in-depth about our Aboriginal history. The topic for this year was causes and consequences, so we chose to do the Appin Massacre. The Appin Massacre (1816) was the first government-sanctioned massacre of First Nations people (the Dharawal) in Australia. We chose this topic because our school is on Dharawal Land and is located not far from the massacre site. This event has clear causes, and its consequences are still felt by our local community. 

This competition showed us the importance of teamwork and finding the right sources and knowing when and where to put information. It also taught us that you are not going to find answers from just one search; it may take a couple of searches, and even rewording the question might give you a more relevant answer. After doing this competition, we feel that we can easily find the right information.’

We wish the students well in the competition!

Fran Musico Rullo - HSIE Teacher