Year 6 Odyssey

Year 6 students recently presented Odyssey - an evening of Creative and Performing Arts.

The evening transported attendees to another time and place as they were immersed in the stories of Australian immigrants - some personal, some fictitious, but all factual and historically accurate. Some of the students were inspired by stories that they had heard through their character development process.

Over two spectacular nights, families had the opportunity to move through the performance space and hear a variety of monologues; researched, written, and presented by our Year 6 students.

Please enjoy reading their reflections below.

I enjoyed performing my monologue because it really put me out of my comfort zone. - Denzel Ling

I loved Odyssey because we could do multiple things like playing an instrument, dance and as well as perform our monologues. - Jeraah Singh

I enjoyed performing my monologue. A challenge was that I needed to memorise it. It was tricky but i did it. - Utsa Bhayani

I remembered my monologue even though I was nervous. - Bikramjeet Grewal

I love performing for my parents. They are really, really proud and will always remember it. - Menaya Wijesinghe

I enjoyed it all, even the dancing. I feel great now as I don’t have to stress anymore. - Scarlett Mixter

It was an interesting and all-rounded experience for Year 6. It was great going that step further and writing about a migration story instead of just learning about it. - Ethan Henson

This term we had to write a monologue about migration. We all found it hard having to remember our monologues and perform them in front of many students. However, it helped us gain more confidence with performing in front of crowds I feel happy that I did my monologue and remembered it. I found it challenging writing a monologue because it had to be very detailed and tell a story and having to remember it was hard as well. But I did it all! - Eva Englezos

I enjoyed Odyssey a lot and I was really happy after I performed my monologue. The best thing about my performance was that I actually performed it in front of my parents, I felt very good and happy after I finished. It was a challenge for me to slow down and make my voice louder. But I did it! - Tim Zhao

Odyssey will be a highlight of Year 6. Performing our monologues was amazing because it gave us an insight into the pressures of Year 7. - Jack Walley

I feel good now that it is over. It was fun and scary to perform on the night. - Evie Colosimo

I did enjoy the monologues because they helped me with my stage fright. The best thing about the performance was that my monologue made sense and the audience liked it. It was challenging for me to get on stage and not back out. But I did it! - Renee Yajaman

A challenge was that the rehearsals were realistic and I was nervous. - Tony Huang

Every Year 6 student created a monologue, and each and every one of us worked exceedingly hard. We all pushed ourselves out of our comfort zone as hard work always pays off. The experience of participating was mind-blowing. From the performances to the jingling of the chime, everything was absolutely stunning. This special day taught us many lessons as we encountered problems like the transitions from monologue to performance, singing to dancing, etc and we had to learn to solve it, such as having backstage helpers to help us pack up and set up efficiently. Now that the whole event is over, I believe that it was worth everything. All the parents enjoyed it and so did we. - Klarissa Chen

I really enjoyed the Year 6 Odyssey performance. It was a great experience to help me improve my public speaking, dancing, acting, signing and singing. It all flowed together so well. I really loved performing my monologue to my friends and family! When I was practicing I talked a bit too fast but on the night I slowed down and it went great! I am glad I overcame that challenge. My favourite part of the performance was the dance at the end because it was really fun. I am really glad that it went so smoothly and I am glad we had extra practices along the way. - Bella Kinns

When it was my turn to perform I was very nervous, but when I finished, I felt so proud of myself. The best thing about the performances was how we learnt to project our voices to the very back of the room! A big challenge for me was to overcome my fears of stage fright.  - Maya Doubinski

I really enjoyed the Odyssey performance because everyone had a role in the performance, what challenged me is finding a story about migration. But other than that it was really fun to dance, sing and read our monologues in front of our parents. - Jordan O’Neil

I enjoyed performing my monologue to a crowd of parents, as I gained more confidence. Now that I have finished I’m very happy with the outcome and I’m happy that I remembered it all. - Aria Jacobs

A challenge was to remember your monologue. - Abhee Arora

I did enjoy the Year 6 Odyssey it was fun and very challenging. The only challenging thing was when we did the entire performance but in the end I did it. - Oscar Farr

During this Semester, Year 6 have been doing Odyssey which was a performance about migration stories, we came up with our own monologues to perform, you could choose which country and come up with your character and why they left the country. We also did a dance called Jai Ho which was a Bollywood dance and a group of people did a different Bollywood dance. I really enjoyed coming up with and performing the monologues and the dance was fun. - Greta Moss

The nerves spilt down everyone’s spines as the red stage lights illuminate the performers. Our peers quietly whispered advice and clearly displayed their courage. At the end we were showered with a mountain of joyful praise. For almost half of the year, Year 6 were tirelessly working on their mid-year CAPA performance. Sometimes CAPA was extremely fun, dancing, talking and singing, but sometimes it grew quite tedious, sitting in the drowsy classroom typing monologues. I know we were all grateful for the peers in our group who helped us improve our monologues to perfection, and to the teachers who helped organise us, especially when we were just that little bit too excited. Odyssey taught us so much and we were amazed at how much we now knew about Refugees and Migrants. - Mellica Devadas

It was challenging for me to get up on stage, I was worried that I would mess up in front of the parents. I was reassured by my peers that I would do well and that it didn’t matter if I messed up. Now that I am finished I am happy that I did it because it was a good learning experience. - Alex Choat

I enjoyed performing my monologue because I got to perform in front of parents, which I have not done in a while so I really liked it. I feel relieved that we have finished the monologue it feels great! The challenge was editing because I had memories of a whole different thing. - Safira Mundi

I enjoyed the CAPA very much I felt more confident the more I practiced. I used my voice, by projecting of my voice, I was in Bollywood, it was so much fun dancing to ‘Jai Ho’ as well. The best thing about my performance is that I used my voice so my monologue was my best thing about my performance. The challenge for me was that I had to perform in front of a big crowd. - Aryian Banker

The Odyssey experience taught me about different migration stories and cultural dancing. I really did enjoy my performance because it has made me more confident when talking with an audience, the best thing about my performance was that I entertained them. I feel very good knowing that I challenged myself to do what I would never usually do. - Izzy Nahirny

When we were doing our dance it was good because we did it in order and it came out really well. - Sulaiman Razvi

This year we did something more original than any Year 6 at Hills Grammar because we performed a 1 to 2 minute monologue describing the adventures that maybe our family has sailed or maybe a story from your mind's imagination. This was hosted on two nights - Tuesday and Wednesday of Week 8, Term 2. This was the first performance for Year 6 since the lockdown was lifted in 2020. This gave us an opportunity to try our hardest and perform work, not just write it down in a book but to be free and give more power to the meaning of migration. - Neville Vassallo

I had so much fun, learning the amazing dances and songs such as the ‘Jai Ho’ dance. We learnt all about Immigration and how it impacted our lives today by bringing diversity to our country. My favourite thing about the performance was putting the writing together because it was challenging at times when I didn’t have enough historical facts in my monologue. However in the end I worked it out and we all had an incredible performance. - Ivy Simpson

I really enjoyed performing. I liked singing and playing my instrument. - Penny Smith-d’Eustachio

I have learnt various kinds of immigration stories and why they had to leave. I have enjoyed performing my monologues because it taught me history. The best thing about our performance was to forward our knowledge of immigration to our parents and peers. - Charlie Wang

I enjoyed performing my monologue in front of an audience and showcasing months of work. I felt that projecting my voice was a challenge because sometimes many people in the back row won’t be able to hear you while people in the front will hear you perfectly. But I did it! - Sienna McKean

I enjoyed the performance despite the fact that waiting in my chair while other people were performing, as my time to perform drew closer was absolutely nerve-racking. However, once I had finished I felt a sense of accomplishment. One thing that I found challenging was projecting my voice while I was performing my monologue. I think the problem was that I was so nervous and focused on the audience's eyes fixed on me that I knew I needed to project but just couldn’t. Aside from that I quite enjoyed Odyssey and thought the night was a roaring success. - Declan Carrick