Category: Canberra

St Stephens meets the Governor General of Australia

October 31, 2017

A wonderful time was had by all on the recent HASS Canberra Tour.  This tour was made possible due to the funding and support of the Australian government.  The financial support provided through the PACER contribution alleviated financial stress and allowed more students to participate in this excellent learning experience.

Students were privileged to have a personal meeting with the Governor General of Australia, His Excellency, the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove.  Immediately after, Sean MacMillian played a beautiful piece of music in the Drawing Room. Recent guests to this room include former President, Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II.  Our students then lost themselves in the Australian War Memorial and followed this with a visit to New and Old Parliaments. Other Canberra highlights included CSIRO, Anzac Walk, Mount Ainslie, Australian Institute of Sport and Questacon.

Students then travelled to Melbourne and after a night walk in central Melbourne and Federation Square, woke up early to visit the Islamic Museum.  Students were given the opportunity to see the contributions of the Islamic community and were interested to find Muslims have been in Australia before Federation (1.1.1901).  Students asked engaging questions which dispelled many myths they had about the Muslim community.  Students then went to the Melbourne Gaol to experience the grim history of the colonial prison system.  Students were then impressed by the lights of Melbourne via the Eureka Skydeck.  Our second last day involved a visit to Sovereign Hill where students saw gold poured and went down an old mine.  They were also excited to see see the original Eureka Stockade Flag.  We ended our trip with a tour to the MCG and shopping at the Victorian Markets.

Verity Palmer and Matt English both agreed that they felt privileged to be involved on this tour and enjoyed themselves due to the excellent behaviour of our students. The students were joyous, courteous and an excellent representation of St Stephens. I hope parents and the school are as proud of their behaviour and care shown to each other on this trip as I was.

Leeanne Shanks

Humanities and Social Sciences

“The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” – Proverbs 18:15