8 November 2011 : Visiting an Australian farm

Reported by Janet Floyd, Tallangatta Secondary College

Today the weather was cooler in the morning, with rain clouds threatening to spoil the plans for the day, but fortunately the sun came out to ensure the day still ran smoothly.

After Home Group all boarded the bus driven by Joy and accompanied by student teacher Simon for some adventures on the farm. First stop along the way was at the Old Tallangatta lookout, where Joy explained the history of the Tallangatta and the need to move the township as a result of the building of the Hume Weir and the flooding of the area.

The group moved on to Joy and John Campbell's farm to make some new animal friends. John taught the students about different animals and the star of the show John's workmate - his kelpie dog who is a working dog. John gave a demonstration of how he works with his dog to move the sheep from one part of the farm to another. There was also time to feed the calf, check out the Harley bike and task some scones, jam and cream before heading back to school. Special thanks to Joy and John for their hospitality.

On return valuable time was spent rehearsing and checking out the SMALL stage for dance practice for Thursday.

Next students and teachers headed off to the library to meet with some students from the Students Representative Council and their teacher Mrs Rebecca Kennett. They had valuable discussions about the different leadership roles of students at our schools, aspects of school life and the life of teenagers in both communities. This was followed by a lunch of sandwiches and specially commissioned Australian themed cupcakes.

Period 6 after lunch was devoted to joint choir practice with students of SMK DPM and TSC singing together and preparing for a combined performance. Beautiful sounds echoed from the Performing Arts Centre, showing what can be achieved in a short time by students who have a common love of singing despite their short association and cultures.

In Period 7, Deanne and Varolien visited a Year 9/10 Humanities class to give their impressive presentation about the Environment, followed by a question and answer session. The rest of the group headed off to a class of Bahasa Indonesia with Ibu Yanti. This lesson featured students teaching dance to sometimes awkward but enthusiastic Australian students. Laughter could be heard ringing from the room into the corridor, proving once again that teenagers are teenagers with lots in common wherever they come from!