At 1.30pm on Saturday 30th June, 2018, 23 students from Year 8 and 9, and four staff members arrived at Perth Airport Terminal 4 to embark on the inaugural Middle School Thredbo Ski Trip.
We arrived in Canberra at 9.30pm and promptly boarded a bus, which took us to our accommodation for the night. We had some pizza and then it was time to sleep. We had a very early morning departure and after an early morning breakfast we loaded all our luggage on the bus. Most of us had a little sleep on the bus as we were too excited to sleep the previous night. For some of us, we caught our first glimpse of snow about an hour’s drive to Thredbo. We made a stop to collect all our Ski Equipment and then a quick stop at Jindabyne so that we could have some lunch and to get some snack supplies for the week as shopping in Thredbo is very expensive. We arrived in Thredbo, unloaded the bus, put our ski gear on and then promptly began our first ski Lesson. It felt really strange to walk in ski boots. We had a two-hour lesson every morning, then lunch and we would hit the snow again in the afternoon to have a free ski with the PMACS Staff. To finish the week off we had a night ski on Friday Flats which was loads of fun as well as a snowman building competition.
On Friday we set off very early in the morning so that we could spend the day in Canberra. We embarked upon an educational tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australian’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.
Our first port of call was the Australian War Memorial, where we look at a few of the different exhibitions as well as the Roll of Honour which records and commemorates members of the Australian Armed Forces who have died during or as a result of war services, or for Post-1945 conflicts, warlike service, non-warlike services and certain peacetime operations.
We had lunch at Poppy’s Café and then we headed up the road to Parliament House. We had a one-hour comprehensive guided tour, including the House of Representatives and Senate Chambers and Parliamentary exhibits. We then had a one-hour Parliamentary Hands-on Educations program where we learned how a bill is passed through roll play which we all enjoyed. We also received certificates from our local member Christian Porter, who unfortunately wasn’t in Canberra on our visit.
Our next stop was to the Old Parliament house, where we had to put white gloves on so that the oil from our hands wouldn’t damage any of the artefacts in the building. We then took part in an interactive exhibition trail, which was followed by a historic debate re-enactment. Mr Streeter agreed to be the Speaker of the House but didn’t realise that he would have a very special outfit.
We then had a very quick stop at McDonald’s for a meal and then we were set off for the airport and our journey home.
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.