For the first time Grade 6 students from St Kilian’s PS travelled to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne to participate in Legacy's 92nd ANZAC Commemoration Ceremony for Students on Friday 19 April,2024.
Schools which attended were encouraged to lay a wreath at the ceremony and St Kilian's students, Lucie Pasalick and William Everton presented a wreath on behalf of their school.
The special commemoration service honours Australia's brave service men and women through the eyes of the young, with student guest speakers, school bands and Defence Force cadets, dignitaries and an RAAF fly-over.
St Kilian's School acknowledges Legacy who made the trip possible. Legacy is an organisation dedicated to caring for the families of veterans who have lost their life or health in service to our country. Legacy’s caring and compassionate service assists around 48,000 widow(er)s, children and dependents with a disability. It is a voluntary organisation supported by veterans, servicemen and women, and volunteers drawn from all walks of life.
The students had an amazing time and learnt a lot about the significance of ANZAC Day.
Reflections by some of the Grade 6 students:
On Friday the 19th of April the Grade Sixes of St Kilian's school travelled down to Melbourne by bus to go to the ANZAC Commemoration Ceremony. Once we got down to Melbourne we took our seats and waited for it to start… The exciting part was that me (Lucie Passalick) and William Everton got to lay our school wreath. A little bit later one of the band players played The Last Post on the bugle and we had a minute of silence. We all stood to sing the National Anthem, then the Governor of Victoria, Her Excellency Margaret Gardner, left and then we got back on the bus and went home. My favourite part of the ceremony was when I got to lay the school wreath.
Lucie Passalick
I learnt a lot at the ceremony that day, l learnt that Melbourne helped another country during the war and in return they raised money for us through the bushfires. I was able to lay the wreath at the ceremony with another peer from the other class, which was superb for me and I loved doing it as well. At one point it started to rain and we all got these wonderful rain jackets. I really loved the excursion. - William Everton
Last Friday on the 19th April St Kilian’s Grade 6s went to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. It was the 92nd ANZAC Student Commemoration Ceremony. There were a lot of schools from across Victoria, both primary and secondary. It was very exciting being able to go to the Ceremony. We saw the Governor of Victoria Margaret Gardner. Lots of people gave important speeches; one boy gave a speech about his Great-Great Grandpa. We had to sing Waltzing Matilda and I Am Australian. I noticed that they had an Eternal Flame like Canberra.
Alexys Higgins
The ceremony started with acknowledging the Aboriginals and we sang the National Anthem. The Governor then came to our side where we were sitting and if she talks to you, you have to stand up and greet her as ‘Your Excellency’. William and Lucie represented us by laying a wreath and then we had the Last Post and we stood without our hats. It started to drizzle and we sang Waltzing Matilda. The ceremony then ended, and we all took a group photo quickly as the band was coming towards our direction.
Natalie Kon
The Shrine Guards walked past us on their way to guard the Eternal Flame. There was a kid who won the state speaking competition; he gave a speech about his Great-Great Grandfather. A highlight for me was when Will and Lucie laid a wreath on behalf of our school. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good day.
Blake McConvill
Last Friday on the 19th April we went to The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne. In Melbourne there were heaps of schools there for the same reason as us. When we walked in, they gave us little gift bags with a catalogue of everything that we were about to see. At the start someone started playing the didgeridoo; the didgeridoo is a special Indigenous instrument. At the start I was feeling very excited that we got to be there. About halfway through, a few people gave some speeches including The Governor of Victoria and a student who won the Public Speaking Award. He was quite funny; he even made a joke at the end of his speech.
Archie Walsh
