G l o r y T o G o d


N EWS L E T T E R Number 5 - 27th April 2012


Yr8 Camp Canberra 2012 On the 19th of March, at 7.30am, the Year 8 students started on a 4 day educational tour to Canberra. After approximately 8 long hours of driving and a few short breaks, we arrived at the Bush Capital Lodge. We quickly settled in and had dinner, after which we braved the cold and arrived at Mt. Ainslie for an amazing and spectacular view of Canberra by night.


On Day Two, we drove to the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex where we learned about space investigation, how antennas work and what satellites are. We were told that the Complex housed the largest satellite dish in the southern hemisphere, at a massive 70 meters. Among the many exhibits that were displayed, we were thrilled to see a rock from the moon!


After lunch, we spent the afternoon at the Australian Institute of Sport where Australia’s elite athletes train. The AIS swimming pool is considered to be extremely high-tech because its walls are made of glass so people can see right into the water and record what is happening beneath the surface, along with underwater cameras to assist swimmers with their technique. We also toured the massive gymnasium and various courts where games like netball, basketball and volleyball are played. After the tour, we had an opportunity to enjoy ourselves at the interactive sports area which was loads of fun!


Our next stop was Geoscience Australia. We had a fascinating time learning about the earth’s surface and structure, earthquakes and the various types of gemstones, minerals, fossils and rocks. After a very informative and absorbing session, much to everyone’s delight, we were off to the AMF Bowling Centre for a full hour of strikes, misses and great fun!


After dinner, we headed off to CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) to have a taste of Forensics. We were presented with a crime scenario and worked in groups to solve the crime using a variety of evidence such as finger prints, tyre tracks, and handwriting samples to identify the culprits from a list of suspects. We were pretty good detectives, as many of us came close to identifying the culprits!


Day Three began with a visit to the Art Gallery. We viewed paintings by Renaissance artists such as Titian and Raphael and we saw many paintings of Mary and Baby Jesus.


Our next stop was Old Parliament House where we were given a tour of the premises and had an opportunity to engage in a role-play based on the issue of conscription. We took on the roles of politicians and had a grand time presenting our arguments.


At the Australian War Memorial, we were greatly touched on learning more about the ANZACs, the brutality, hardship and tragedy of war and the extraordinary courage, loyalty and sacrifices of our Aussie soldiers. We went on to view the Roll of Honour where the names of all the soldiers who had died in wars were listed. We particularly looked out for the name of Private James Martin, the youngest ANZAC to die in the war, as we had learnt about him in our English lessons when studying the novel, “Soldier Boy”.


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