Year 6

Assistant Principal's Report

Greetings from our Nation's Capital!

What a pleasure it is to write this newsletter contribution from our annual Year 6 Canberra Tour. Year after year I am in awe of the responsible and respectful way our students represent Pakenham Springs while travelling interstate and visiting some of our nation's most significant places.

Although the bus ride is long, our students were able to enjoy some attractions along the way.  The Holbrook Submarine is a favourite to stop at, as is the Dog on the Tuckerbox. 

We jumped straight into our sightseeing, visiting Mount Ainslie, the Australian Institute of Sport, the High Court, Royal Australian Mint, the Museum of Australian Democracy and the Telstra Tower all on the first day of our tour! 

Some of our other highlights from the week included visiting Parliament House (and rolling down the grass on the roof!), Questacon, the Australian War Memorial, the Electoral Education Centre, the National Museum and the National Capital Exhibition Centre.

As always, I am hugely grateful to have our wonderful Year 6 staff: Amy Jewell, Megan Ryan, Dylan Harris and Veronica Cole travelling with me to ensure our Year 6 students have a safe and happy experience.  This year we have been joined by Samira Rahimi as well as our parent helpers: Mark Tankard, Cameron Brown, Richard Fox, Glen Thoonen and Scott Collings.  I cannot thank these people enough for their willingness to leave their own families and commitments for the week - your assistance and sense of humour is greatly appreciated!  Thank you also to Linda Roberts and Lucy Hoogenboom for their preparation leading up to camp. 

We are extremely lucky to have the opportunity to visit Canberra and have the opportunity to participate in so many 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 $30 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.

I'm sure there will be some extremely tired students (and parents and staff!) on Friday night - I hope everyone enjoys a quiet evening and restful weekend - all ready to gear up towards the end of the school year.... yikes!!

Wishing you all a fabulous fortnight ahead!

Kind Regards

Renee Cotterell