Canberra

Our Grade 5/6 students recently had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Canberra as part of our 2026 Canberra Camp. Throughout the week, students participated in a range of educational programs and visited many of our national institutions, building their understanding of Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families with the cost of the excursion, the Australian Government contributed funding to our school of $67.50 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) program. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

This funding helps make valuable experiences such as our Canberra Camp more accessible for our students and families, and we gratefully acknowledge the Australian Government’s support through the PACER program

Day 1

Last week the Grade 5/6s went to Canberra for camp. On Monday at 6:30am all students arrived at school and had to get on the bus. We said our final goodbyes and we were on the road at 7:00am. All of the teachers told us that it would take 11 hours and that we had to behave and keep the noise down. We watched the movies Casper and The Lorax. We stopped at a giant submarine and The Dog on the Tuckerbox. That afternoon we arrived at Canberra at 5:00pm. We ate dinner and we enjoyed the games room. At around 9:00pm we went to sleep. Speaking for all of us, I think we fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow. We had a great day and I think all of us would probably want to do it again. 

-Eliza and Kayleigh

Day 2

On Tuesday, we woke up and went downstairs to have breakfast. After breakfast we got dressed then we got on the bus to go to Questacon. At Questacon, we did a lot of fun things like the drop slide which some people thought was fun. After that we got back on the bus to go to the War Memorial and had lunch then we watched a video. After we watched the video we split into 4 groups 2 from 5/6A and 2 groups from 5/6B. All the groups split and went to a different part of the area. We saw vehicles, clothes, objects from the past, dioramas and World War I and World War II artefacts. The War Memorial was very interesting and fun. After the interesting War Memorial we went to the High Court of Australia. We went inside the High Court room. After that we went to the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport) and it was really fun! There were all types of sports that we could do like skiing, skeleton, and riding bikes! After that we got to see things like the swimming pool, volleyball players, and Gymnasts! It was so much fun! After that we got back on the bus to go back to the accommodation center to have dinner. Then we got back on the bus to go swimming. Where we went had a large pool, a twisty bendy slide and an area that just looked like a circle pool, but it was actually a circle pool with water that went round and round and all the kids in there, plus Mr Ward, tried to make it go around faster than it was. After that we went back to our accommodation and got into our pajamas and went to bed for Wednesday adventures

-Nullah and Finn

Day 3

On Wednesday we got ready and headed down for breakfast. After that we all went to get ready for our big day! First we went to Mount Ainslie to look at the view of Canberra. It was very cold and foggy, but we had great opportunities to take photos of the Parliamentary Triangle. After we finished there, we headed to the Australian Mint which was very cool because we got to see how coins were made and got to design our own coin on a screen. We got to go to the gift shop where you could get a 50c coin for $10. Next we went to the National Gallery of Australia where we learnt stories behind sculptures and paintings. There were some fun activities that included drawing and we got to see the portraits that we have been learning about in Art. After the fun tour we had some lunch there. Then we headed to Geo Science where we got to learn about fossils, rocks and natural hazards. We got to play around with the earthquake sensors by jumping and stomping around. After that we went to the National Museum of Australia. When we split into groups, we had to find a heart that was in a jar. Once we found it we learnt that it was not just any horse's heart, it was one of the fastest horses in the world. It's name was Pharlap. We also learnt about Aboriginal culture and lots of other fun topics. We returned back to our accommodation for dinner. We had fish and chips. It was yummy! To end our day we went bowling which was so much fun versing our friends and teachers and there were lots of laughs during bowling. Then we headed back to our accommodation to get ready for bed and the next exciting day. 

-Chelsea and Maeve. 

Day 4

On the fourth day of the Canberra camp, we went to the National Arboretum.

We learnt about the bonsai trees and got to roll down a steep hill. We got to go to the park where there were big unstable acorns. Afterwards, we left and had fruit in front of Parliament House and saw all the flags. We then went into the Parliament  House where we got frozen yogurt and talked to Dan our local MP. We then left to go to the Senate Room and The House of Representatives where we learnt about the rooms. We then left and had lunch in front of the Parliament House. Afterwards we left for the Australian Democracy Museum where we learnt about the history of Australia. We also talked about the referendum of 1967, about the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples. After we left we went to the National Electoral Education Center where the 5/6s learnt about the first secret ballet and how to do the secret ballet. We then returned to the accommodation for a delightful dinner. After dinner we settled down and enjoyed a movie. We didn't finish it but it was very nice. 

-Connor and Riley

Day 5

On Day 5, we travelled home from our wonderful trip. We got up early and dropped off our suitcases under the bus, before having breakfast at 6:30am. After breakfast, we went up to our rooms to do a quick check for anything lost and then we hopped on the bus with our backpacks. The bus home was meant to take 8 hours but it felt like forever! The bus ride was quite uneventful, with most of us either sleeping or playing games. Sometimes we would play a movie using the DVD player. In Euroa, we stopped at a McDonalds next to a KFC. Some of us went to KFC, but most went to MacDonalds. The queue at McDonalds was very long. Those poor workers! We had to wait a very long time to get our food, but when we did get it, it tasted so good! After everyone ate, we went back on the bus for 3 more hours. When we arrived at school, we were met by the warm and welcoming faces of our parents. We were so happy to finally be reunited with them, but we also missed Canberra lots!

Thank you Dave!! (our bus driver)

-Isabel and Maddy