School Life Updates

Canberra Excursion

Students from Year 6 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.

Over four days, we visited both old and new Parliament House, taking part in both tours and role play opportunities where students acted out the presentation of a Bill in the House of Representatives and were able to gain a greater understanding of how our nation’s government works. At the Parliamentary Education Office, students were shown how our preferential voting system works as they voted for preferred fruits - it turns out that apples are more popular than oranges in Year 6!

On Tuesday, we visited the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery. This was a great opportunity to look at elements of indigenous Australian artworks and some sculptures which will be a focus of our studies in Visual Arts this term. We also participated in a guided walk along Reconciliation Place which gave us some great insights into important events in our Nation’s past, and how we can look towards the future.

On Thursday afternoon, students braved the Canberra cold as they participated in the Last Post Ceremony at the National War Memorial. On Friday, we returned to visit the interactive D-Zone and toured other exhibited throughout the Museum. Before climbing onto the bus to return home, we had one final guided tour of the Memorials along Anzac Parade.

Other highlights throughout our stay included swimming at AIS, exploring Questacon at night, touring the AIS and sharing our mealtimes with some of the athletes, and having a night of fun at iPlay.

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 $20 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.

The Year 6 teachers and students would like to acknowledge and thank the additional staff who came along to help us throughout the four days: Mrs Sharpe, Mr Bracks, Mrs Savage, Cassidy Holmes and Freddie Williams. A special thanks also goes out to Adam, our bus driver from Langley’s for keeping us safe and in time throughout our trip.

Mrs Emma Charlton

Year 6 Teacher