The Year 10 cohort recently returned from their school camp in NSW (21-30 August). It was a trip of a lifetime.

The first stop was Avondale College of Higher Education, where students toured different academic faculties and began to consider their post-school options. We stayed in university dormitories, ate in the cafeteria, watched the College basketball tournament and played sports in the auditorium.

From Avondale, we drove to spend a sunny day at Taronga Zoo. We thank our accommodation hosts in Sydney, Macarthur Adventist College, for their generosity in hosting us for two nights’ sleep and two wonderful meals. Students enjoyed the Saturday church service at Macarthur, then toured the Harbour Bridge, Rocks District, Opera House and Darling Harbour.

In Canberra, students enjoyed rich educational visits to the Australian War Memorial, Parliament House, High Court, Australian Institute of Sport and the diplomatic embassy district. A highlight of Canberra was dinner at Star Buffet!

The last stop was Jindabyne, at Perisher Ski Resort.  Here, students took part in two days of ski or snowboard lessons, then ventured out to different parts of the resort with teachers in the afternoons to develop their skills. This was most students’ first sighting of real snow, and we were treated to a beautiful snowfall on the final Thursday morning!

We would like to thank the Australian Government and the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate (PACER) Program for contributing funding of $60 per eligible student towards meeting the cost of travel expenses.  This program assists in providing increased understanding of the Civics Education in Australia.

-Claudia Houstoun, English and Religious Studies teacher