As part of the LIFE Week City Experience, a group of 23 Year
9 students, accompanied by three staff set off to explore the cities of
Melbourne and Canberra, before heading to the Snowy Mountains to experience
skiing or snowboarding.
The city itineraries provided for students to investigate
their Big Ideas Winter Term question: Does the City C Us? As part of the
project, students are working in teams to interrogate how well cities engage
young people and to offer solutions for improving the engagement of young
people through the lenses of the ‘Six C’s’ – Character, Communication, Citizenship,
Critical and Creative Thinking and Collaboration.
The tour group first headed to Melbourne where students were
able to explore a wide range of ways that the city of Melbourne appeals to
young people. The students took a walking tour of the CBD, including looking at
the ways in which dark alleyways have been transformed as works of street art
or been turned into cultural experiences. Students visited the Australian
Centre for the Moving Image where they considered different uses of technology
to engage young people in all things film and sound. They explored the
diversity of the Queen Victoria Markets and experienced a football game at the
iconic MCG. Students learnt about the legend of Ned Kelly and how the city of
Melbourne preserves the legacy of the Ned Kelly story through the Old Melbourne
Gaol and the State Library. Students had some shopping time in the city and
experienced Melbourne’s tram network.
The tour then flew to Canberra for three days of exploring
the nation’s Capital. The visit to Canberra served as both another city to
explore for their Big Ideas project as well as a culmination and enrichment of
student’s learning in Civics and Citizenship, History, Geography and Science.
Students visited a wide range of Civics and educational attractions including Federal
Parliament House and the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament
House, the Australian War Memorial, the National Library, The National Film and
Sound Archive, the National Portrait Gallery, the CSIRO and Questacon. Along
the way, students considered how Canberra city engages young people with
Australia’s national icons and parliamentary process.
In the last phase of the tour, students and staff headed for
the snowfields at Smiggin Holes in the Snowy Mountains. Students spent two days
developing their skills in either skiing or snowboarding. The tour was a great
success and a week of living life to the full.
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 has contributed funding of $240.00 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.
Ms Karen Taylor
Year 9 Learning Innovator
29 August 2018
