Year 6 students recently embarked on an educational tour of the Nation’s 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.

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 contributed funding of $45 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the School.

Please see reflections below from two students, on return from this wonderful experience.

Russell Newman
Camps Coordinator Whole School
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What I learnt about myself at Year 6 Camp in Canberra (Amy Schmideg)

What I learnt in camp about myself was that I know how to keep going and not give up with what I do. There were some times where I found things challenging and I pushed through. I learnt that I don’t always need my phone wherever I go because I didn’t have my phone and it felt good because my head wasn’t stuck in it. I know how to be more creative because usually I am never creative because my head is planted in my device.

I know how to express my feelings now. I know how to take my head out of hard situations and remove myself from bad conversations that will interfere with how I act. I now know that wherever you go you can learn things, because when I wasn’t in Canberra and didn’t think I really wanted to learn.

I learnt that no matter what people do or how people act I can help them in any way and that is what I did in camp. I know how to focus more and try my best. For example, when we went to the National Art Gallery of Australia I sat there while the lady was talking and I tried to focus and concentrate.

It felt really weird without being with my parents because I haven’t been away for that long. I missed them but I knew that I was surrounded with joy and happiness by my friends and if I felt upset they would make me feel comfortable. I learnt that I can always talk to people that aren’t my friends and get to know them better. When I went to the Telstra Tower I had a massive fear of being up high, but my friends helped me get over the fear of it. I knew that when I got on the airplane without my mum, the teachers were so supportive and I actually did not feel anything because the flight was so short that it was actually sort of fun going on the plane.
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Canberra Camp (Lyla Dubs)

Monday

Camp was a lot of fun and when I left to go on the bus I had butterflies in my stomach. The bus ride was so long. Monday was just full of travelling. We stopped at parks and saw the dog sits on the tucker box. When we got to Canberra, we were so excited we learnt our cabins. I was with a lot of my friends. It was so much fun. Then we had dinner and went to sleep.

Tuesday

The day started with an early wake up. We went to the War Memorial, and saw the tomb of the unknown soldier. Then we went to a park, ate lunch and went rock climbing. That was super fun. Then we went to Parliament, saw the House of Representatives and the Senate. We saw the massive Lego model. And did role play on how decisions get made in the House of Representatives.

Wednesday

The next day we went to all the embassies, then went back to Parliament and talked to Josh Frydenberg MP. He talked about budget day. Then we went to the old parliament house and they told us how democracy was made. Then we went to the Aboriginal embassy and they told us how it’s not actually a democracy because they don’t have a say. At night time we went to the Telstra Tower and it was so high up and so scary, but the view was so nice.

Thursday

We started the day by going to the Governor General’s house and he was giving medals to people so we had to be quiet. Then later that day we went to Questacon which is a science and technology centre a bit like Science Works.

Friday

On Friday we packed up our stuff and put it on the bus before we went to breakfast. Then we went to the airport and waited to board the plane. We went on the plane and started to lift off. It was very smooth and before I knew it the captain said to prepare for departure. Going down was so smooth it didn’t even feel like we were down and before I knew it I had landed.