General News
6 April, 2026
Gallipoli bound: East Loddon students on exchange to Turkey
A GROUP of nine East Loddon P12 College students flew out of Australia on Wednesday night for the school’s first exchange visit to Turkey in eight years.
The students and teachers Harrison Bennewith and Nakeya Mountjoy will spend almost a month in Greece and Turkey.
They will be at the official commemoration at Gallipoli on Anzac Day.
Students have spent more than a year fundraising to support the trip that continues the school’s links with Turkey established more than a decade ago.
Supported by parents and friends, the students have run raffles, catered for functions and enlisted support of local businesses.
The exchange will see students based at Canakkal, attending classes and immersing themselves in the country’s culture.
Ms Mountjoy said students would stay with host families in an exchange that provided an amazing opportunity for students from a rural school.
“The opportunity for our students to visit Turkey and immerse themselves in a different culture will be amazing,” she said.
Students have spent the past year researching local men who had served at Gallipoli in World War One in preparation for the trip.
“We firmly believe that our fantastic ‘country kids’ gain so much from this program and it is vital that the college is able to continue strengthening this wonderful opportunity afforded to our students,”she said.
The group will arrive back in Australia on April 30.
Local RSL sub-branch officials said they looked forward to the students sharing their experience of the commerations in Turkey at future Anzac Day and Remembrance Day serices in Loddon communities.