Last week, 19 students and 4 staff went back to school early and left for the Year 6 Canberra Tour.  It was an action-packed week, with a full itinerary of places to visit and activities to do in Canberra.  The main purpose for our visit was to learn more about our Australian system of government, how parliament operates and how elections are run.

Our trip focussed 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 contributes funding per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) program to go towards these costs.  The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

We were also able to spend some time while we were away visiting other places of interest in Canberra, including Questacon, the Royal Australian Mint, the Australian Institute of Sport and Floriade.  We also managed to have some fun together as a group and loved our accommodation at Camp Cottermouth.

Kate P and Will  A have shared some of their memories from the trip below.

Hi my name is Kate and I went to Canberra with SCOTS PGC College. The best thing about the trip was going with my friends on a trip away from school. I have always wanted to go on a trip with my friends but it is always so much money, so I finally got to go and it was a blast. Going to Old and New Parliament House, Questacon, the War Memorial, the Southern Cross Cruise were highlights. We had the best bus drivers ever – they were so fun and great. The camp where we stayed had the best meals and great camp leaders. Every night and morning we have different meals. The worst part about camp was when we had to come home. I didn’t want to because I would have to go back to just seeing my friends at school, but of course, I want to see my family and pets again. I am sure that when the teachers got home they would have gone to bed straight away. But I had the best time at camp. I would like to thank the teachers for taking us to Canberra. It’s a camp I will never forget!

Kate P – Year 6

 The Canberra trip was very fun and joyful. Camp Cottermouth was very welcoming with its food and hospitality. The cabins were huge and there were logs and space to have fun.

My favourite part of the whole trip was Questacon as we got to see a talking robot. Questacon was like a series of massive galleries with things such as robot air hockey, steep drop slides, models of how robots evolved, microscopes for checking out bugs and heaps of scientific toys to play with. It was also fun to spend time with my classmates and teachers and to get to know them better. The worst part was travelling on the bus home. Everyone was so tired and sleepy. I loved my trip to Canberra!

Will A – Year 6