Published on: 15 August 2014


Christ Church again ranked among the top performers nationally in the Australian History Competition. In their respective age groups, Jack Annear (Year 10) scored the highest result in Australia, while Joshua Chan (Year 8) and Henry Pemberton (Year 8) had the highest marks in Western Australia.

Head of History Richard Parker said more than 150 Year 8 and 100 Year 10 boys sat the competition in May. Mr Parker said the number of participating schools had almost doubled each year since the competition’s inception four years and that Christ Church continued to excel each year.

“An extraordinary 49 per cent of students scored in the top 10 per cent nationally while Year 8 students, who were challenged by difficult subject matter this year, still gained a respectable 35 per cent in the top 10 per cent,” he said. The competition’s core objective is to assess critical thinking and source analysis skills using topics from the Australian Curriculum.

Jack Annear was not planning on studying History in Years 11 and 12, but his result in the competition may have changed his mind. Jack said he found the questions on the First World War the most interesting. “That part of history has shaped the way we are now. It particularly interests me, as my family believes we have a relative on the first ships to arrive at Gallipoli,” he said.

Henry Pemberton said his favourite period of history was the Ancient Greeks and Romans. “I think the mythologies are cool and how the interactions between these countries have played out in mythology,” he said.

Joshua Chan said he found the questions in the competition interesting and fun. “The thing I enjoy about History is understanding how different periods of time have shaped the way we live today,” he said.

Mr Parker said he received a phone call from the Director of History Teachers Association of Australia, David Ward, congratulating the School. “He praised students for consistently achieving high scores in this prestigious competition,” he said.