By Mrs Louise Evans, Head of Studies of Society and Environment (SoSE)

An exciting year awaits our Radford College SoSE students!

The Radford College SoSE department has many wonderful opportunities planned for 2025. Our Year 7 and 8 students will complete a semester of geography studies with a focus on exploring complex, contemporary issues such as global water management and the impact of the world’s increasingly urbanised populations on our natural environment. Students will develop their mapping and data analysis skills, and their classroom experience will be complemented by local excursions to explore the extraordinary biodiversity and unique landforms on our doorstep.

In Years 9 and 10, our students continue with geography studies and can also elect to study international commerce. This subject provides a taste of our senior SoSE subject offerings by introducing students to Australia’s legal and government systems and developing students’ understanding of Australia’s place in the ever-changing global geopolitical and economic landscape.

A highlight for our Year 9 international commerce students will be the Commerce Trade Fair – an opportunity to flex some entrepreneurial and financial management muscles by designing, marketing and selling a unique product. With all that is learned from the Trade Fair experience, our Year 10 international commerce students are well equipped to move on to complete a personal financial management unit, which covers everything from setting up a bank account and a superannuation account for a first job, to planning for an exciting life event, such as moving into their first home or buying a first car.

In Years 11 and 12, our students can elect to study one or more of the following subjects: business, economics, global studies or legal studies. Our senior students not only benefit from the expertise of our SoSE teachers, but will also enjoy excursions to some of Australia’s most important institutions (again, on our doorstep!) and absorb the wisdom from a selection of guest speakers.

The Radford College SoSE teaching team has a wealth of experience. Mrs Louise Evans, Mr Mitchell Knuckey, Mr Gary Seckerson, Mr James Nowland, Mrs Mary Biboudis and Mrs Alison Steven work closely together in our economics and business teaching teams, while Mr Amer Salman, Dr Rebecca Barlow, Ms Catherine Gibson and Ms Michelle Nazzari lead our global studies and legal studies teams. Our Year 7—10 geographers and our international commerce students also benefit from the expertise of Mrs Jane Lilley, Miss Georgia Sweeney and Ms Olivia Cable.

We are a diverse group with a common love of the contemporary and perpetually evolving nature of our subject areas. We’re very excited about all that’s to come in 2025 and we’re looking forward to sharing this with our 2025 Radford College SoSE students.