During the school holidays, 62 Year 9 students and 53 Year 10s visited our nation’s capital, where they visited iconic sites including Commonwealth Parliament, the High Court, the National Gallery and the National Museum. The Museum of Australian Democracy and National Electoral Education Centre, both housed within Old Parliament House, rounded out the visit to Canberra and the Australian Institute of Sport proved popular with our sports inclined girls (and staff).

The visit to Government House was a highlight. Our Year 10 students met His Excellency General, the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove, the Governor General of Australia.

Mt Ainsley and the Telstra Tower atop Black Mountain provided panoramic views of the national capital, which helped the girls make sense of the city and appreciate their visit to the National Capital Exhibition. This exhibition tells the story of Canberra as the realisation of married architect couple, Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin’s joint vision for the city.

Bowling, laser tag and a movie night provided some lighter entertainment during the trips.

After Canberra, both groups travelled to Jindabyne for two and half days skiing.  Great fun was had in the snow fields of Smiggins Hole and Perisher.  A great way to finish two fantastic trips.

The trips have given our students 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 $240 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion and was factored into the costs charged by the College.

The following staff are acknowledged and thanked for the contributions to making each trip a great experience for our students.  On the Year 9 trip – James Rees, Colbee Brooke, Melissa Gilloughley, Tom Kendall and Stephen King. On the Year 10 trip – Annette McCubbin, Olivia Gamble, Rebecca Ewing, Hannah Fay and Rosa Speranza.

Special thanks must go to Andrea Fitzpatrick and Tyra White who coordinated the Year 9 and 10 trips respectively.  Without their great work and effort the girls would not have enjoyed the great experiences they had.

The following is a perspective on the Year 9 trip from Lucy Cocks.

Stephen King, Head of Humanities & Social Sciences

This year I was one of the lucky students out of the 62 girls who got to go on the Year 9 Canberra Tour. I remember excitedly waiting with all my friends to board our plane, everyone wearing the bright red tour jackets running around trying to see who they were sitting next to on the long flight.

The first thing I remember when landing in Canberra was the cold, it was a good thing I packed lots of warm clothes because apparently we experienced the coldest weekend in 15 years. Even though the early starts were hard, I enjoyed all the activities and tours arranged for us.

The highlights were going to the War Memorial, the Anzac Parade walk and going skiing. The War Memorial and Anzac Parade walk was moving and gave me a better understanding about the different wars and what our brave soldiers had to go through. Hearing all the stories and reading them was quite emotional but inspiring.

I loved going skiing, it was a fun time to relax and it was quite funny seeing your friends “stack it” down the mountain.

 I am so grateful for getting the opportunity to go on the Year 9 Canberra tour, I’ve learnt so much about Australia’s history and government as well as met many amazing people. I will forever cherish the memories I have made whilst on this tour and would recommend it to everyone.

I would like to thank all the teachers who made this wonderful tour possible, thank you for putting up with us for a week.  We all appreciated your hard work.

Lucy Cocks (Year 9, O’Reilly)

The Year 10 Canberra Tour was an exciting, educational and enjoyable trip! Throughout the trip, we received a thorough education on parliament, law making and Australia’s political system.  We had a chance to role play parliamentary positions and even got to meet the Governor General in person.

We experienced the extensive national museums and galleries.  My personal favourite was the National Art Gallery which is located next door to the High Court of Australia.

The trip was finished off with 3 days of skiing where we all learnt something new about each other. Overall the trip was extremely fun and exciting. Thank you to all our teachers for organising the trip and looking after us.

Madalyn Canci (Year 10, O’Donnell)