RSL and Schools Remember ANZAC Commemoration Service 2015
Greetings girls! :)
On thursday, the 23rd of April 2015 the SRC were invited to attend the annual "RSL and Schools Remember ANZAC Commemoration Service".
This service, which has been conducted at the ANZAC memorial in Hyde park since 1953, is dedicated to honouring the men and women who died defending the values, principles and tradition cherished by Australians. It is a time to remember those who made great sacrifices so that we can enjoy the opportunities available in today’s society. The service is a collaboration between the Catholic Education Commission NSW, the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, the Department of Education and Communities and the RSL NSW State Branch.
At approximately 9:15am the Prefects, Mr Ocampo and a junior SRC member from each year group travelled to Hyde park on a bus supplied by Parramatta RSL. Upon arrival we set up a place to sit around the ANZAC memorial and watched as the park began to fill with students from schools located all over NSW. With beautiful sunshine, the weather was definitely on our side despite the heavy storms we had endured in the days prior.
The service included the James Ruse cadets marching, speeches on the ANZACs and their significance to Australians, a prayer, the recitation of the ode, the bugle call of The last post and several music pieces beautifully performed by a student choir and student sinfonietta in tribute to the fallen soldiers. The service ended with the laying of floral tributes, where each school lined up to lay a wreath or tribute to honour the service of the ANZACs.
Before we left the venue, we took a few photos infront of the large bullet statue "Yininmadyemi", which translates to "Thou Didst Let Fall," it depicts four standing bullets and three fallen shells that represent Indigenous soldiers who both survived and were sacrificed as part of their service in Australia's military. The statue stands today infront of Hyde park as a tribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service men and women.
After this we were back on the bus and off to school. If there was anything we could of gained from the service, it would have definitely of been the thought of what a great nation we live in, how thankful we are to the service and sacrifice of Australian soldiers, and how lucky we are to live with so much opportunity today.
