Year 6 Canberra Excursion

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 to our school in the amount of $45 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.

Here is the student report about the excursion;

On the Monday morning of week 6 the 2024 Year 6 class went on the bus to Canberra, it was a long journey that took about 11 hours. Yes, 32 kids on one bus was quite an experience for the teachers and parent helpers, but we enjoyed it all the same. We made a couple of stops along the way to have a reset by playing on the playground. When we arrived we headed straight into our accommodation for dinner, which was much better than we expected. We were clearly satisfied. After that, we settled in for a good sleep, as tomorrow was filled entirely by activities.

On our first full day in Canberra, we started with a visit at the Parliament House where we toured both the House of Representatives and the Senate. We were also lucky enough to meet our Parkes Federal member, Mark Coulton. Next, we headed to Questacon, where we experienced lots of fun including shadow rooms, fun house mirrors and even an earthquake simulator! The highlight of the day was definitely the 10 foot slide where most of us took turns sliding down. After Questacon, we drove past multiple embassies which belonged to multiple different countries. Later in the afternoon, we stopped at the National Film and Sound Archive where we took a trip through Australia’s media history. Overall, it was a great way to start our week in Canberra.

Wednesday was definitely our most packed day of the week. It began with the Mount Ainslie Lookout where at the top we viewed Canberra’s amazing symmetrical city layout, it was the perfect start to our day. We headed onto the National Archives of Australia where we saw historic documents from our past including letters signed by Queen Victoria and the Australian Constitution. Soon after we headed to the National Gallery where we split into 3 groups. The gallery had a wide range of different artworks, each one fascinating to look at. Our afternoon ended with the War Memorial where we commemorated the Australian Soldiers who fought in WII. After dinner we went to have some fun at Jungle Golf.

Thursday, the day everyone has been waiting for, mainly because we were going to snow. We arrived at Corin Forest for some snow play. We suited up in full snow gear and we soon learned that headshots were not permitted. We were still excited, as we were going to throw the most gigantic snowball at Mr Carroll as revenge for making us do school work, but don’t worry Mrs Drogemuller also got several snowballs thrown at her. After that, we went to the national museum of Australia where we viewed dinosaur skeletons and had a guided tour of some amazing pieces of Australian history. Then we went to the Royal Australian Mint where we watched the robots make coins, we also learnt about the history behind the creation of the coins. Afterwards, we went to the Ridgeline Park Playground which was a fun experience. Eventually the day was over, and we were preparing for the long trip home.

On Friday morning we left for Moree. It took another 11 hours to get home. Let’s just say when we got home we were all really tired. We were sad because the experience was over but we will remember it for a very long time to come.

Year 4 Excursion Dhiiyaan Centre

On the 3rd September, Year 4 walked to the Dhiiyaan Centre to hear a dreamtime story about a platypus and a duck. We also learnt that it is World Rivers Day coming up on the 29th of September. We walked throughout the centre where there were videos to watch as well as activities and colourings to do. There was also a scavenger hunt that we were able to do by finding lots of information about Moree and its history by searching through the resources. We learnt that Moree means “a long spring water hole” and we also found out that Dhiiyaan means “family”. We really enjoyed our time with Raquel at the Dhiiyaan Centre.

By Grace Carter and Leni Brannan

Brain Olympia Walgett

On the 28th of August, 2 teams of 8 students from Years 4, 5 and 6 travelled to Walgett to participate in the Diocesan Brain Olympia competition. Brain Olympia has been an academic initiative which began at St. Francis Xavier’s, Narrabri in 1996. The day consists of general knowledge trivia, mathematical problem solving, drama and public speaking. In Walgett, they competed against teams from the Western region of the Diocese (Wee Waa, Narrabri x 2 teams, Mungindi, Walgett x 2 teams) to win a place in the final to be held in Gunnedah. Both teams did an incredible job and represented our school with pride. Moree 2 came 3rd and Moree 1 came 1st!

Brain Olympia Finals Gunnedah

On the 11th of September, Moree 1 consisting of Azami, Rory, Alex, Harry, Bruce, Pippa, Joseph and Tori travelled to Gunnedah to compete in the Brain Olympia Final against schools from Inverell, Glen Innes, Gunnedah, Wee Waa, Guyra, Walcha and Quirindi. Our students worked incredibly hard and displayed fantastic teamwork which culminated in them winning the whole competition and a massive trophy!

The students’ participation in the final could not have happened without the help of Sam Hart and Cath Moylan who kindly gave up their time to drive our students to Gunnedah. And finally, one last massive congratulations to both of our Phillies teams who proudly displayed wonderful teamwork and sportsmanship.

Belinda Bremner

K-6 Assembly - Class Roster

K-6 Dance Concert

This year St Philomena’s will hold our biannual K-6 concert. The theme this year is ‘The Phillies Grammys. The concert will showcase what students have learnt within the Dance strands of the Creative Arts and PE syllabuses. The concert will be held in Week 9 of Term 3, in our school hall. All children will participate and be involved over the following days:

K-6 Dress Rehearsal: Tuesday 17 September

Matinee Performance: Wednesday 18 September

Night Performance 1: Wednesday 18 September

Night Performance 2: Thursday 19 September

Our concert is a very special occasion for St Philomena’s School. We require the students to be present for all performances. We thank you in advance for your support of this. Please set aside these dates and you will be notified soon regarding ticket sales and costume requirements.

Parents & Friends Association News

Spring Fair