Braving a very cold start to our adventure, a representative group of Year 8 students headed down to Warrnambool on the 23rd of August to visit King’s College. Over 14 years, King’s College and Heathdale have had a program of exchange visits between our Year 8 students. Our students relish learning about life in the country and our friends from King’s enjoy experiencing the context of a big school in an urban environment.
King’s is a well-established Christian school, but with a much smaller student cohort than Heathdale. While there are differences, our students quickly noticed is that life in the two schools has a very similar atmosphere. Our students quickly found themselves at home as they ventured out to explore King’s with their new friends.
The highlight of our day was a trip to a one of Victoria’s largest dairy farms. Students from both schools enjoyed touring the farm and seeing the rotary milking machine in action. At their peak time of year, this farm milks 2000 cows twice a day! We were privileged to see a new calf in the birthing shed that was only about half an hour old. The farm manager answered many questions about production, equipment and even career progression.
While our trip to the whales viewing platform didn’t result in seeing any whales, we did get to see ‘Gutsy’ the wombat on the way back. And if you haven’t heard the story of ‘Gutsy’, take a minute to watch the story behind Warrnambool’s unexpected wombat.
We are looking forward to hosting the King’s College Year 8 group when they journey to Heathdale in early October. The exchange helps our students to expand their horizons and see a side of life in Australia that is a little different from life in the city. Learning to mix with new people and taking time to be good hosts, as well as good guests, is all part of the King’s exchange experience.
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