On Wednesday the 17th August,  the Middle School Unit hosted a Migration Panel, as part of their Why Australia? inquiry unit.

Seven panelists, from within and from beyond the school community, came to talk about how and why they came to Australia. The counties of origin included Malta, Hong Kong, Tanzania, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands.

Some wonderful questions had been pre-prepared by the students and were asked from the audience in a Q and A style forum. This was a wonderful opportunity for our Year 6/7 students to meet people and hear stories related to events and issues which they had been studying, such as the White Australia policy, various wars and assisted migration programs.

The next step will be a follow up, one-on-one panel discussion with Neela Siva, a Tamil refugee.  The students will then begin the final stage of the inquiry, developing a fact-based fictional character, who writes letters home describing their reasons for leaving, journey, difficulties and ongoing life in Australia.