Excursions/Camps
Year 9 Humanities - Cranbourne Royal Botanic Gardens
Our Year 9 cohort went on an excursion to the Cranbourne Royal Botanic Gardens, with the intention of collecting data and exploring the stunning natural exhibits the garden has to offer.
Upon their arrival students were met with a series of stunning exhibits, many were excited to get photos of the Red Sand Garden in the ‘Australia Garden’. As students traversed the garden, they observed any different exhibits such as Gibson Hill, The Future Garden, and the incredible Gondwana Garden, all the while collecting their data, and representing the college with respect for not only the public, but the garden itself.
Unit 1 Modern History Excursion to the Holocaust Museum
On the 29th of April, Kambrya College’s Year 11 Modern History class had the enormous pleasure of being able to visit the Melbourne Holocaust Museum in Elsternwick. As one of the students who was able to go on that excursion, I believe that I can speak for everyone there when I say it was one of the most inspiring and life changing excursions we have been on in a long while.
After a quick introduction, we were taken on a tour through the pieces on display in the exhibition, a lot of which were donated by the survivors, things like family photos, letters and stolen documents being displayed. I personally was drawn to these things, as the main point of the exhibit was to accentuate the idea that, despite the fact that facts and figures are the main way people view the holocaust, every person who was a part of the holocaust was an individual, with dreams, friends and families that were taken from them. It was surreal reading stories about individuals and their unique experiences, learning about their struggles and perspective on the events they were thrusted into at varying ages. It’s not hard to see why the next part of the excursion was the most powerful moment I have ever experienced.
The last part of the excursion was when we got to meet a holocaust survivor, Abram Goldberg OAM. Since we had already been introduced to his story and who he was, we immediately got into the questions. Abram is 101 years old this year, and not a single year from his life has escaped him it seems. He told us that the reason he has kept his volunteer work at this museum going, is because he is still keeping his promise to his mother. He promised her that he would share what happened during his time enduring the holocaust, so that people never forgot it. This was one of the most powerful things I had heard. Abram kept answering our questions, and each answer was given with such wisdom and care behind it that you couldn’t help but feel every word. The following quote is something I will carry with me my whole life: “There was something for the world to learn yes, but it hasn’t yet.” We need to learn the lessons taught by history, and we need to carry these lessons with us throughout life, in order to help us better the world.
In short, the excursion to Melbourne’s Holocaust Museum was a life changing experience, and something that I think everyone needs to experience. Seeing the exhibitions and getting to meet Abram expanded my world-view and moved me beyond words, and I think that that experience alone is worth seeing, at least once.
Andrew Parma – Unit 1 Modern History Student
