Year 6s Visit Parliament House
Year 6 students are studying Civics, Citizenship and History this term. The girls have been learning about the history of Federation including:
- How a bill becomes a law,
- The three levels of Government,
- Different leadership systems around the world
- The system of government in Australia.
To extend on what the girls have been studying, the Year 6 classes headed to Parliament House last week to experience first hand, what they have been studying in class.
“When we got there, we were all so excited to find out more about the Australian Government. The first thing our group did when we got there was learn about the three levels of government. We had discussions about what it would be like if there wasn’t a local government and how things would run. After that, we had a tour of Parliament House and we learnt about some of the politicians including Mark McGowan, John Forrest and more.
“We also celebrated the fact that on that day it was the 100th year anniversary of Edith Cowan, the first woman, being elected in to Australian Parliament. While we were there, we also learnt about how the Western Australian elections run. At the end of our tour we were given Parliament House badges as well as delicious juice cups!
“Then we went back and met a man called Nigel who taught us more of how elections run. Although we all had an amazing time, we were all so disappointed that we didn’t get to meet Mark McGowan, however we did see his office!” Amelie Cotte and Freya Knowles (6.8)
“The Parliament House excursion was so much fun! My favourite part of our excursion was learning about the Upper House and the Lower House. We even got to see Mark McGowan’s office! Did you know the Liberal Party’s Boardroom has two doors?! No spies will be getting in there for sure! I loved our excursion and we got to see how to vote too! Sapphire (6.9)
“The tour guides gave the information about Parliament House in a fun and practical way.” Adayna (6.10)
I learnt about the history of our Parliament and our states prior to federation. I loved learning about the speakers in Parliament. I found the fact that every single speaker in the history of WA said they did not want the job because they were frightened of getting their head severed! Ava (6.6)
I learned a lot about the history of our Parliament, how to vote and the jobs of our local, state and federal government. I enjoyed the part, where during our voting election, Alishia had three choices and put Nigel (the host) as 3 and the others as 1 and 2. Everybody was laughing. Lauren (6.6)
“I think the excursion was exciting because I saw the Mace in Parliament House, which was quite a rare sight!” Gabby (6.8)
“I liked getting to see the legislative council and assembly rooms. Also looking at the photos and paintings in parliament house because they were interesting.” Ava (6.10)
Visiting Parliament House has allowed students to see first-hand how the Western Australian Parliament system functions as well as discover some of the history and hidden stories of the Western Australian government throughout the years. Students also visited the Australian Electoral Commission and took part in an activity which demonstrated the preferential voting system.
The girls connected their learning in the classroom to real life, by demonstrating curiosity, as they asked many thought provoking questions. They worked collaboratively on some of the activities throughout the day. They also demonstrated their analytical skills, by thinking about information presented to them and then drawing conclusions.
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Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
