Categories: NewsEducation

Students examine Australia’s ‘worst year’ of war in prestigious history competition

<p>HISTORY students examining Australia&&num;8217&semi;s involvement in war will travel to the battlefields of Europe as part of the 2018 Simpson Prize&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>From the first battle of Bullecourt&comma; to self-sacrifice and the conscription referendum&comma; some of Australia’s brightest young historians have been exploring the history of World War 1 as part of one of the country’s most prestigious history competitions&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; Sixteen winners and runners up in the 2018 Simpson Prize travelled to Canberra and were presented with their medallions and certificates&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This year’s winners were selected from 1134 entries from Year 9 and 10 students who examined whether 1917 was the worst year of the Great War for Australia and Australians&comma;” Assistant Education minister Karen Andrews said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The Simpson Prize is an important way to ensure Australia’s history of war is recognised by this and future generations of students&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;With a national assessment of civics knowledge among school students last year finding how important it is for Australian students to have a stronger understanding of our history&comma; the Simpson Prize is a terrific opportunity for year 9 and 10 students to engage in&comma; and learn more about&comma; our shared heritage and the ANZAC story&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;While in Canberra the students participated in a number of visits to cultural institutions&comma; including the Australian War Memorial&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The eight winners will also soon depart for a once in a life-time opportunity to attend ANZAC commemorations and visit the scene of key WW1 battlefields in France and Belgium&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine; Veterans Affairs minister Darren Chester congratulated each participant for the dedication&comma; effort and curiosity they had applied to the study of Australian history and in particular the story of the ANZACs&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Some of the entries investigated important topics including the economic impacts of war&comma; patriotism&comma; the loss and grief felt back in Australia and famous battles such as the battle of Passchendaele&comma;” Mr Chester said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Their entries demonstrated a deep understanding of the ANZAC tradition and its importance to our national identity&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;All of today’s winners have shown themselves to be excellent young historians with a well-researched and sophisticated understanding of this significant time in Australia’s history&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine; The Turnbull Government has committed &dollar;606&comma;000 over three years to support the History Teachers’ Association of Australia ongoing management of the Simpson Prize&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine; For more information on the Simpson Prize&comma; go to&colon; www&period;simpson&period;org&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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