Northern Territory Trip

Our students in Year 6 are fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to the Northern Territory. An eight day trip by plane, to visit the Yipirinya School in Alice Springs and immerse ourselves in the culture of Central Australia.

Working with the students at the Yipirinya school was a highlight for all, students and staff included. Our children were able to form connections with the students of the school, as well as be immersed in the culture and running of day to day life at Yipirinya. 

We were fortunate enough to be taken out on Country, where the Elders of the community taught the students many things about language and culture. 

We were immensely proud of our students for taking every opportunity possible, to be involved in the students school day in and out of the classroom.

Along with our very impactful and memorable trip to Yipirinya School, we were able to do some incredible sight seeing and educational visits to establishments in Alice Springs. Schhol of the Air, The Old Telegraph Stattion, The Royal Flying Doctors Service, The Desert Park, The Earth Sanctuary, Uluru, Standley Chasm, Simpsons Gap and ANZAC Hill. These were all invaluable experiences for our students to be involved in. The learning and understanding of Indigenous Culture is something they will carry with them into their lives, to share and hold forever.

Below are a collection of highlights and comments from our students who attended this incredible trip:

R.F.D.S stands for Royal Flying Doctor Service. They help the communities around them to access doctors and hospitals, because the drives can be hours long. They assist people in an area that spans over 7 million square kilometres. When there, we watched an introduction in their theatre about how the R.F.D.S came about. Afterwards, they let us try being a Pilot and Patients in VR. They had an incredible model plane you could go in and even press the buttons in the cockpit. This experience definitely showed us how important doctors are in rural Australia.- Amelia D

Our tour guide Dan took us around the beautiful Earth Sanctuary and taught us all lots about our night sky. We got to look through some mega telescopes and saw the moon and the jewel box. We were taught how to find the belt with all the planets in it using the palm of our hand in the night sky. Dan also taught us how to find our way through navigation using the night sky. We were all very grateful for the wonderful experience. - Sam C

As we drove towards Uluru, we were surprised by a rock called Mount Conner that looked exactly like Uluru. Our guide told us it is called Fooluru by the locals. As we came near to the real Uluru we realised why this was such a remarkable place. Our tour guide told us about some of the Tjukurpa (story) of the Sacred Site. This included the markings across Uluru from the snake called Liru, whose story we loved listening to. Overall this trip was amazing and will stick with us forever.- Hugo G

Standley Chasm was a beautiful site to see, we were lucky enough to witness such a wonderful place like this. When we arrived, we walked down the path that lead us to the Chasm. At the bottom of the path, we walked through to the opening and it was all silent. We acknowledged the Arrernte people, and were thankful that we were able to have enjoyed an amazing place like this. Standley Chasm is a sacred women's place, a cultural place of the Indigenous. This site is worth seeing and appreciating, I hope I get to go back one day! - Lucinda B

Simpsons Gap is a trail down to the Gorge at the end of the pathway. There were lots of mini caves and some really good spots to take photos. We were able to climb in between rocks, and  get to some really cool places that had amazing views of the Gorge and Simpsons Gap. It was one of the best places on our trip and I highly recommend to go there.- Harvey K

Anzac Hill was a marvel to look from. You could see all around Alice Springs. Some of the highlights were seeing a rugby ground, the main street, the MacDonnell Ranges, the Ghan locomotive, TIO Traeger Park and the beautiful scenery around us. We felt like we were on top of the world and there was a great monument commemorating the ANZACs. On the drive up, there were signs that showed all the previous war dates and locations, and on the back there were war scenes of soldiers, poppies, helicopters and nurses. I loved it, and while I can’t speak for others, I think they loved it too. - William W

A.S.S.O.A stands for Alice Springs School of the Air. It is the largest classroom in the world. When we arrived we headed to a classroom and the former teacher taught us a bit about how the School of the Air used to be and then taught us about how it is now. We then saw where all the different kids live and how far spread the A.S.S.O.A classroom really is. We listened to the A.S.S.O.A film clip, where we could see the farms and ranches the students live on. This experience made us all realise how lucky we are to live so close to school. - Minna McD.

The views of the Northern Territory were indescribable and being with the kids and seeing their way of education was such a unique and incredible experience. We were moved around all of the different year levels and classrooms throughout the days at the school. The kids were ecstatic that we would be at the school with them and would be playing with them during the week. It felt so amazing to be able to assist them with their learning and help them with their assigned activities. It was such an amazing thing to be able to do and witness. I hope they enjoyed our gifts! - Charlotte F