Students from our school have recently undertaken an education tour of the national capital. Students have been 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 of $60 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school.
by Isabelle Hookway
This year the Year 9 students (Class of 2019) and a few brave teachers set off for the annual Year 9 Sydney/Canberra trip. This trip all started at 4:30 am (or earlier for some) on the 22nd of July at Gold Coast airport. While some students and teachers thrived at such an early hour, others found a new home at the airport cafe, sipping coffee to stay awake. This all ended when the students were on the plane, excited for what was to come and of course enjoying the complementary snacks.
An hour and a half later, suitcases in hand, we started our jam-packed Sydney schedule and set off for The Rocks and the Sydney Opera House. After splitting into groups and touring these venues, we had a delicious lunch on the Opera House steps. This lunch was then interrupted by a flock of hungry seagulls trying to steal students’ food. After lunch, we headed off to Mrs Macquarie's Chair for our last Sydney activity. Once we'd finished our Sydney endeavours we took on the five hour journey to Canberra; this journey consisted of a service station and Macca's stop, four movies and a full bus toilet tank.
Once the buses had finally arrived in Canberra, we all entered our apartments in Ibis Styles Canberra 4 star hotel. Once we had all settled in, recovered from the long journey and accepted that the students' apartment TV's were disabled, it was time for dinner. Overall, the food at the Ibis Styles Canberra was good, but the clear highlight was the hash browns and especially the bread rolls.
In Canberra we had an incredible time. We visited many interesting places like Questacon, The Australian War Memorial, Parliament House and an amazing acorn park at the National Arboretum. We shared some great experiences while bike riding, tobogganing at Perisher Valley and sketching sculptures in the National Portrait Gallery. This camp also included four birthdays (Issy Reynolds, Campbell Taylor, Gareth Thompson and Mr Fernance), a broken collar bone, two girls crashing into a child playing Pokémon Go, a boy wearing lipstick, disconnected apartment phones and many more unforgettable memories. Thank you teachers, parents, tour guides, bus drivers and friends for this incredible experience!
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