7 June 2019

Year 6 students from Emmaus Catholic Primary School, Sydenham, had the opportunity to participate in a Parliament incursion at their school.

The purpose of this was to educate students about their rights as Australian citizens, as well as giving them a taste of what debating looks and feels like in the House of Representatives and Senate chambers.

As part of the incursion, students pretended to be in the House of Representatives and debated over passing a law on discontinuing Physical Education to allow more time for other subjects such as Mathematics and English.

The Affirmative team provided arguments on why they should get rid of Physical Education and the Negative team provided rebuttals on why they needed Physical Education in schools.

This activity helped students further engage with their Inquiry Unit and learn how to be responsible citizens.

‘Learning about this topic is important as it opens students up to what the government does in our lives’, said Year 6 teacher, Mr Bradley Williams.

‘Students at this age are mature enough to understand how our country tries to give everyone a fair go and how they can contribute to society in a positive way.’

Students also had the chance to vote for a leader, and learn about how the preferential voting system works, the different types of government and how laws are made in Australia.