Year 10 Visit to The University of Sydney

On Friday the 5th of May 34 Year 10 students visited The University of Sydney. The day aimed to inform the students about the course offerings, the academic entry requirements and to experience the vast campus of The University of Sydney.

Students met Mr Nisbet and Ms May at Blacktown Station at 7.30am. We caught a very fast country train to Central Station and then enjoyed the sunshine as we walked to the university campus opposite Broadway Shopping Centre. First stop was a cafe for morning tea not too far from where we were to meet our two University Ambassadors, Annie and Nick.

Prior to our official tour and presentation Ms May spoke with the students about the opportunities a university education can provide. She also talked about the prerequisites at The University of Sydney and why she believes they are necessary. This followed great discussion between the students, Mr Nisbet and Ms May about the different university entry requirements and course offerings. Some of the students and Ms May entered the nearby Law Building, mainly to visit the bathrooms. Whilst in the building some of the students spoke with a Biology Lecturer who invited them into his lecture theatre. The Academic explained that whilst we were the Law Building academics from other disciplines also use the teaching spaces for their lectures.

It was now time to meet Annie and Nick at the Clocktower which was a feature of the Great Hall. We were very lucky to see university students in their academic dress soon to graduate in the famous and beautiful Great Hall. Annie and Nick spoke about the architecture and how it was modeled on the architecture of buildings at Oxford and Cambridge universities. Annie and Nick pointed out that the British style building had an Australian icon on the facade of the building. It was of a Kangaroo - something Ms May had never noticed before.

Annie and Nick then led us to a small flat teaching space to learn about the course offerings, entry requirements, including the Mathematics Prerequisite for many of the courses and the alternative entry pathways.

We then went on a walking tour around the campus to view some of the buildings and features of the campus. These included the Graffiti Tunnel which has long been a place where students were free to adorn the wall with chalked or painted messages, both political and social. It was thought that the practice began in the early 1960’s, a by-product of the student unrest in the Vietnam War era. The Tunnel now features advertisements for student groups, music and dramatic productions - the political statements have become less prominent.

On our tour we learnt that The University of Sydney has its own post office and therefore its own Postcode. The Post Office is located in the Pharmacy Bank Building. The building got its name because the pillars on the facade were rescued from a demolition being completed on a bank building in the Sydney Business District. 

The University of Sydney is very famous for its research activities. We visited the Sydney Nanoscience Hub which features more than 25 laboratories. In the highest-precision laboratories a combination of controls on temperature, air pressure, mechanical vibrations, and electromagnetic interference makes these spaces among the most tightly controlled anywhere in the world.

We continued our walking tour to cross City Road at Darlington to visit one of the student accommodation towers called ‘The Regiment’ . We were able to walk through and see where the students cooked their meals, saw how their individual food and kitchen ware was stored under lock and key. We walked through the recreation areas and the rooftop gym. The university students who live in the Regiment certainly have wonderful views of the city.

Next was lunch - students were free to experience some of the many food outlets available at The University of Sydney.

After lunch we had one more stop before our tour ended. It was the Cha Chak Wing Museum. A museum of art, science, history and ancient culture. On one of the levels there was a Lego display of Pompeii, the vast archaeological site in southern Italy. Students were able to view Egpytian, Greek and Australian Ingidenous artifacts and of special interest were the Egyptian mummies in their coffins.

After a wonderful day we said goodbye to Annie and Nick and made our way back to Central Station for another country train back to Blacktown Station. According to Mr Nisbet we endured 19,000 steps to complete our visit to The University of Sydney. It certainly was a day of learning and healthy exercise.

I wish to thank the wonderful students who joined me for this university experience. I would also like to thank Mr Nisbet for his company and assistance.

Therese May

Careers Future Pathways Leader