Year 6 Canberra trip

The Year 6 trip to Canberra in the last week of Term 3 was a tremendous learning experience for everyone, and a great success. Each place visited provided new insights and educational richness to our History units about ‘Democracy’ and ‘The Australian Government’.

Feedback from the BLOG was positive; a great way to keep informed and wonderful to be able to follow our adventures viewing snapshots of what we were doing, as well as sharing messages posted from families with students.

Accommodation this year had bunk style rooms with central dining and a separate break out space in which we held our Salesian Goodnights reflecting upon our days, as well as a spot of table tennis. Students viewed a number of historical artefacts at the National Museum, including Phar Lap’s heart and the first ever Holden car. The visits to both Old and New Parliament Houses were enriching learning experiences with students getting the opportunity to role-play in both.

Our visit to the War Memorial provided an opportunity to pay respects to, and learn about our brave and committed service men and women who embarked on inspirational journeys of commitment and sacrifice. The worlds of Science and Technology at Questacon and Geoscience Australia along with an innovative hands on experience at the Ian Potter Foundation were explored and enjoyed. A tour of our top sports training facility at the Australian Institute of Sport is always a popular venue with students. The evening swim there was great fun!

An unexpected highlight was meeting the Governor General His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove. We were certainly blessed with good fortune and connections in the right places, which made this meeting possible! The final venue, Floriade, was a lovely way to end our Canberra journey. The perfect weather we had whilst in Canberra was just right for this lovely floral celebration of spring. The Ferris Wheel ride was enjoyed by all that went on it as was the ice cream. An excellent trip overall enriching our students learning on many levels.

Thanks to the Australian Government for providing $150 funding (PACER) per student in recognition of the importance of this trip as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. This amount was deducted from the cost per head thus reducing the total amount payable for families. You can see more photos on our gallery: Year 6 Canberra.

Ms Barbara Moulton and the Canberra Trip team