Senior Learning Community

PACER Parliament and Civics Education Rebate - CANBERRA

Students from our school have recently undertaken an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on 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 in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $45.00 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

CANBERRA CAMP REFLECTIONS.

Between the 14th and 17th of November, the Senior Unit went on camp to Canberra. We stayed at the Capital Country Holiday Park. We stayed there for four days and three nights. There were six people in my cabin including me. We had a lot of fun at the cabin. It was a three bedroom cabin with bunk beds.

We participated in lots of activities and I enjoyed going to Questacon. My favourite part was either the earthquake room because you got to pretend you were in a real earthquake, or the lightning machine where every fifteen minutes there was lightning in this cage.

I also really enjoyed visiting the Mint because we got to see videos on how Australian coins are made and be told all the names of the robots that make them. Something new I learnt was that the gold Australian coins have 0% gold in the coins and the face silver coins have 0% silver in them. One of my favourite activities/places was the AIS, (The Australian Institution Of Sport). We got to go on Machines that make you feel like you are actually doing the sport. There was a bike, a body skiing machine and a normal skiing machine. There were also many more activities and fun things to do and try. At the War Memorial I saw the place where the Unknown Soldier was buried. We were told that instead of going to your relatives/ friends grave that died in the war overseas, you could visit here because the Unknown Solider represents everyone who died in war.

If I could recommend anything about the camp for other years, it would be that Canberra is a good place to visit. You might not get to go to some of these places again, so have a fun time and I would definitely go again!

By Emily

On camp I enjoyed going to the New Parliament House, the Mint and Questacon. I really enjoyed the New Parliament House because I liked learning about politicians, the Senate and the House of Representatives. I liked the Mint because I really enjoyed seeing and learning about how money was made. I loved how we could see the money getting pressed in the gift shop and how we could keep the money that we pressed. Something new I learned was that in the Mint they used strong robots to carry things around and to tip the coins. I also learned that they are the strongest robots in AustraliaI loved Questacon because we could learn, discover and play with all the equipment. I loved how they let us go into the rooms and how we could use most of their equipment to learn. I also liked Questacon because of how the people were so nice. I loved their gift shop! It was so cool in there. I couldn’t decide what I wanted. I also learned that Sam Birrell only goes to Canberra when there is a meeting, or an argument, or even if he needs to work down in his office. Someone I saw in Canberra was when we were in the new Parliament House, we saw Anthony Albanese. I didn’t like the bore water and some of the food that they gave us at camp. Outside of camp, I didn’t like how some of the tours went for longer than others and how some went for a smaller period of time than the others.

By Maddison

On camp I really enjoyed Questacon - not just because it had a real periodic table, a periodic table on a table and a digital periodic table. It had an activity involving Furro Fluid (which is magnetic). My Favourite activity was Putt-Putt Golf even though it was a bit of a challenge because we only used putt clubs. My favourite place was CSIRO because we learnt about water usage, biology and robotics. Something new that I learnt was that steel can be used as a magnet by wrapping copper wire around the top and sending an electric current through the copper wire. And finally something I saw was a couch in the shape of a real human heart in CSIRO. I would definitely say that this was a 'five out of five rubber chicken experience' and I would recommend it to any and all.

By Alexandra

At camp I enjoyed the slide at Questacon and having my 12th birthday. My favourite activity was doing the limbo and the cups. My favourite places were the Mint, Questacon and the Australian War Memorial. Something I learnt was money was different back in the olden days. There were 1c and 2c coins, and the 50c coin was round, not a hexagon. Some things I saw were lots of rabbits, two birthday cakes and a bird near my friend's cabin. I think camp could have been improved by having rain water instead of bore water.

By Jemma.

This year on the Five / Six camp to Canberra, we had a good drive up there and a good drive back. My favourite things that we did were the New Parliament House and Questacon. Even though I was very sick I still had a good time at most activities. The thing that I hope they can improve on is the food for lunch. I loved how we had our own cabins. We had our own room each and living room with televisions in the bedroom. The trip up was fun with everyone not being loud but that was on bus two. On the way home we all watched two movies. The first movie was Incredibles and the next movie was Parent Trap.

By Abbie.

In my experience, what I enjoyed was the AIS (Australian Institution Of Sports). As you might have read the name, it wouldn't be fun, but it is so spectacular and fantastic when you go inside the building. It’s like a playground with next generation technology. There was this soccer kick. You kicked the ball at the wall. There is a goalie on the wall standing on the goal line, being presented by a projector. When you kicked the ball, the ball appeared on the wall and the goalie actually moved to dive and bend down. This is really cool.

In my point of view my favourite activity was playing Democracy in the Old Parliament House. We were learning about democracy. It is a recreated version of Canberra but it is not realistic. It’s a 3D version and it’s fun to play and learn new stuff.

Something new that I learnt during camp in Canberra was that In Australia, if you are a Citizen, it is compulsory to vote. If you don't you get a fine of a lot of money.

When I was in Canberra we saw a bunch of embassies. I even caught a glimpse of the Prime Minister in my view at the Parliament House, which was amazing. We saw artifacts, pictures, coins, fun playable stuff at Questacon. At Old Parliament House we saw this game called Democracy.

I think camp could have improved if we got to have more activities and spectacular fun and having more delicious food.

by Joel

Parliament House

In the 7th week of Term Four we went to Canberra. Most of the grade Fives & Sixes went. There were two groups. I was in Group Two. We went to the Parliament House on Wednesday. The first thing we did was go to the lego room. It had a model of Parliament House. While we were in the room with the lego model we got some mango and watermelon frozen yogurt. While we were eating our frozen yogurt Sam Birrell came in. We asked him some questions and he answered them.

The next thing we did was watch the House of Representatives conduct a vote to say yes or no for a new law. We saw Anthony Albanese. Then we went to the Senate and we watched a debate.

The third thing we did was do a role play of the House of Representatives. Group Two had a debate about all schools in Australia because of global warming. Sean was the speaker, Jemma was the clerk , I was the Prime Minister, the opposition leader was Nate.

By Zara.

Two weeks ago we went to Canberra for our school camp. On Wednesday we went to Parliament House where we met Sam Birrell. He talked about his job and while he was talking we had mango and watermelon frozen yogurt. There was this really cool and big lego recreation of Parliament House. There was the Senate, House of Representatives, The Prime Minister's Office, Prime Minister's Interview Room and so much more. After that we went to the House of Representatives. There was a meeting going on. First we saw Sam Birrell, second Kim O'Keeffe and finally Anthony Albanese. After that we went to the Senate. We saw and heard people telling other people their ideas, agreeing and disagreeing. Then we did a role play of the House of Representatives. Louise and Sean played the speaker, Zara and Jiya played the Prime Minister, Ava and Jemma played the Clerk, Jack played the assistant clerk, Nate and Noah brown played the opposition leader, Noah and Steven played the mace carrier/ guard. After that we went to CSIRO which is a science place that invented things like Aerogard in World War II. It was even used on Queen Elizabeth II. After that we went to the National Electoral Education Center. After dinner we went to Questacon which is another science place. The first room we went in was called Room One. It had a big slide which was fun. The second room was a science room about people. The last room was about the world. There was an earthquake plate, lightning and other fun things. When we got home we went straight to sleep. From Ella.