Tina Buchanan, Jarod Summers and the students participating in the Melbourne Exchange Programme returned safely from Melbourne on Monday after experiencing a fantastic week away. Once again our students were the recipients of wonderful hospitality from our friends at Caulfield Junior College who treated them to an unforgettable multi cultural welcome.

During the week the group experienced the city of Melbourne in many different ways. They visited the Melbourne Magistrates Court as part of a study being undertaken by CJC students and examined a real crime from early Melbourne where they were to examine the evidence and determine who was guilty.

At the other end of the ‘guilty’ scale they visited Old Melbourne Gaol as a follow-up to their pre-trip research on famous Victorian ‘bushranger’, Ned Kelly.

Queen Victoria Market was a fascinating destination and the mid-city ‘search and find’ enabled the children to learn about the architecture and history of Melbourne City.

Visits to the Melbourne Synagogue and the Shrine of Remembrance were educationally and culturally valuable.

Host families also took our kids to interesting places and ensured they enjoyed themselves.

I would like to acknowledge the tremendous organisational work of Tina Buchanan in setting up this year’s exchange and ensuring it all ran smoothly, Irena and Tim from CJC for ensuring our kids had a fabulous time and to Jarod Summers for being our Teacher’s Study Grant representative in Melbourne and for disproving the theory that men don’t know how to shop!

Thanks must also go to the children, staff and parents of Caulfield Junior College for ensuring our children and staff received maximum benefit from the Melbourne leg of the exchange programme.