Year 9 City Experience

Year 9 City Experience Program - Term 3

With the end of Term 2 upon us, this is usually the time when preparations for the Year 9 City Experience program that runs in Term 3 kick into high gear. Whilst these preparations are still happening, there are a few things to note this year that are a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Planning large-scale excursions of this nature has always been a challenge, however, I’m sure you can appreciate that this year it has become a much trickier beast due to the current uncertainty we are facing.

The City program is scheduled to run from 24th-28th August in week 7 of Term 3 and is tied to the Humanities Curriculum, encompassing elements of the Year 9 Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business program. At this stage, we are anticipating that everything will run as normal, however, this may change if we are notified by the Department of Education that excursions will not be permitted in Term 3. If we should receive such a notification, then you will be updated accordingly. In the event of this happening, we are planning for the nature of this excursion to then become a virtual experience. If City Experience should run as a virtual experience it will obviously not be the same, but we do not want the cohort to miss out completely, so we are trying to plan for all eventualities.

Right now, we are still operating under the assumption that all will proceed as planned, and in light of this will put out event notifications over Compass at the start of next term so that parents can grant permission for students to attend as well as make payment. Details regarding this are below:

Permission to give consent and pay available on Compass from: start of Term 3
Cost of program: $55
Payment and consent due by: Thursday 6th August (week 4)

The program is planned to run with the following bookings, and each home group will have their own timetable for the week and attend these bookings at different times over the course of the week:

St Michael’s Uniting Church (base location)
Shrine of Remembrance (outside booking)
Queen Victoria Market (teacher led)
Magistrates Court (teacher led)
Eureka Skydeck (outside booking)
Parliament House (outside booking)
Melbourne City Mission (outside booking)
Laneways Tour (teacher led)
Yarra Tour (teacher led)

Of the above outside bookings, there remains the possibility that one or more may not be able to run as planned. This may be because we receive notification that not all businesses will re-start tour operations again in the time frame we need. Alternatively, it may be due to changes that have been made to their operations as a result of keeping their COVID Safe plans in line with government guidelines.

To prepare, be aware that if you are eligible to access the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) then please collect a form or download from Compass as soon as possible, and speak with the main office about transferring some or all of these funds towards the cost of the program in preparation.

Over years past students have consistently identified the City week as being the highlight of their year in Year 9, and something they still remember fondly as they move into more senior year levels. We very much hope that 2020’s Year 9 students are able to experience this program as intended! Please keep an eye on Compass for further updates.

Joanna Karanikolopoulos

Leader of Humanties