Extra-curricular Activities
Red Earth
On Country Immersion
Day 1 – First Day on Country
Students arrived in Central Australia and settled into camp before experiencing their first sunset at Uluru. The group enjoyed spectacular views, a warm welcome to Country, and an evening under the stars as they prepared for the week ahead.
Day 2 – Travelling to Kulpitharra
Travelling through the desert landscape, students visited landmarks including Mt Connor and Kings Creek Station before arriving at Kulpitharra, the homeland of Traditional Owner Billy. The group was welcomed with a smoking ceremony and spent the evening sharing stories, games and a meal with Billy’s family.
Student perspective: “The desert is very green. It’s not what we were expecting; on our bus drive we cruised past endless expanses of shrubs, trees, and rocks, including the famous “Fooluru”/Mt. Connor/Atilla. It was a large monolith, covered in small bushes and grass, unlike Uluru, which is mostly bare rock.
On our first stop, we saw the salt lake, and investigated a set of animal tracks. There was a series of very tiny tracks, that likely belonged to a zebra finch, and some larger tracks. For lunch we stopped at King’s Creek Station, where there were camels 🐪. Later, we stopped at King’s Canyon free campground, even though we couldn’t see King’s Canyon, we still saw some grey nomads, and butterflies.
We continued on our very bumpy bus journey, until eventually we arrived at Kulpitharra, Billy’s homeland. He welcomed us in with a smoking ceremony, and his grandchildren entertained us with their antics. We ate sausages around the campfire with Billy and his family, and played fun games with the children.” - Walter, Lewis, Alexei, and Luca
Day 3 – Giving Back and Learning on Country
Students contributed to a community shade sail project, helping dig holes, install poles and paint designs. They also joined Billy and Uncle Raymond on a bush walk to learn about honey ants and traditional knowledge of the land.
Student perspective: “We ventured into the bush surrounding the camp, with Billy and Uncle Raymond lead us on a search for honey ants. Once we found a nest, we started to scrape the area surrounding it, eventually we began to dig as we looked… at the expense of Ryan’s sunnies. After a long while, we decided the first nest we found was unsuccessful but after a couple of hours, a new nest and a lot of elbow grease, we found the ants with the sugar filled abdomens. The ants tasted like honey! Who would of thought honey ants tasted like honey?” - Priya, Alisha, Rosie, Chase and Rohan
Day 4 – Cultural Activities and Connection
The day included creative activities, making clap sticks with guidance from Traditional Owners, and learning more about culture and Country. Students enjoyed a memorable sunset walk, listened to stories from Billy, and shared a final evening of gratitude around the campfire.
Day 5 – Farewell to Kulpitharra and Kings Canyon
After an emotional farewell to Billy, his family and the community, students travelled to Kings Canyon. Many completed part or all of the famous canyon walk, taking in breathtaking views of the ancient sandstone landscape before enjoying a well-earned swim and showers at camp.
Day 6 – Uluru and Reflection
Returning to the Uluru region, students were guided by Aṉangu Traditional Owners on a cultural walk around the base of Uluru. Through stories and discussions, students gained a deeper understanding of the significance of this remarkable place before spending their final evening reflecting on an unforgettable week of learning, connection and cultural exchange.
Student perspective: “The guides shared with us some engaging and amazing tales of old (like old old, like thousands of years old) which felt pretty special. We were taken on a lovely walk around a very cool part of the iconic big rock and we ended up at a beautiful watering hole under a waterfall with no water, there we snapped some photos together with the Traditional Owners.”
INTERESTED IN JOINING US ON A CENTRAL AUSTRALIA RED EARTH TRIP IN 2027?
We are taking expressions of interest from campers who will be in FLE1-GRAD in 2027. Estimated timing will be late Term 2 or early Term 3 TBC.
Send an email to RGR@tc.vic.edu.au with your name and we will follow up in Term 3 with more information.
ICAN Final Session
This week, TC students involved in ICAN celebrated their last session. ICAN is Australia’s largest provider of autistic-led group mentoring programs, offering space at school for students who are neurodivergent to feel empowered with optimism, belonging, self- acceptance, pride and confidence.
Students spent this term meeting together once a week with our lovely ICAN facilitators. During sessions students explored many topics including personal strengths, special interests, self-advocacy, and stress management tools, just to name a few! Every session ended with an “ICAN Talk” where students who wanted to were able to share a 5-10 minute presentation on one of their special interests. It was truly so special to learn more about everyone’s special interests and to see the group embrace them and celebrate them for who they are.
For the final session, students received certificates of completion and “Shout Out Cards” where everyone wrote encouraging notes for each other. Having ICAN at TC was such a great experience and we hope to be able to host more groups in the future!
Stevie K, Wellbeing
The Safety Pact - Street Sense Self Defence
In Term 2 on Wednesday afternoons for eight weeks, a group of students have participated in Self-Defence and Personal Safety awareness and development sessions facilitated by The Safety Pact Founder Vicki Zingiris and her colleague Trevor. The sessions were a hands-on introduction and practice of self-defence skills, through which we learnt about personal safety strategies such as situational awareness, de-escalation and being an active-by-stander.
The students had opportunities to explore concepts such as:
Situational Awareness, De-escalation & Being an Active Bystander:
What does an aggressor look for when choosing a target
The principles of de-escalation
Group-scenario based learning (what would you do if faced with this situation)?
Self Defence:
Physical Self Defence Programs, practical moves, drills and practice of how to respond to unsafe situations
Digital Safety:
How social media and gaming platforms keep us coming back for more. (Specifically addressing the addictive and harmful components of these products to teens.)
Anecdotes from participants include:
🥋 “It’s really engaging”
⭐ “It’s fully good!”
😊 “I enjoy it”
💪 “I’ve learnt how to hit adults”
🔥 “After this, I am going to sign up for Karate lessons”
SIGN up for Term 3
We are now taking expressions of interest for Safety Sense in Term 3.
📅 8 sessions
🕒 Wednesdays, 2:15–3:15pm | S04
💰 $245
Keen to sign up? Send an email to RGR@tc.vic.edu.au
Refugee Week
During Refugee Week we once again hosted Niro Vithyasekar, a Tamil asylum seeker who has a street food business, Tuka Tuka Kothu Roti Man. A small group of student volunteers worked with Niro to make the food and serve it to the school community for lunches and take home dinners, making Niro over $1300. Thanks to everyone who supported this initiative. We hope you enjoyed your meal!
Niro shared with us the good news that he has recently become an Australian citizen. We are very happy that Niro has reached this important stage which finally provides him with a secure home here.
