Year 12 student Andrew Gray and year 11 students Alissa Meagher, Jacinta Percival and Rebecca Steedman and teacher  Kirsten Hutchinson attended the dawn service at Anzac Cove, before making their way up the steep cliffs that line the Gallipoli coast to attend the service at Lone Pine cemetery.

Rebecca summed up how the group felt after attending the services alongside around 95 other NSW school students who made the pilgrimage to the Turkish site.

“You can describe how you feel about the content, it was emotional and thought provoking. What you can’t explain is the feeling of being in this place at this time. There are no words, it is without compare,” Rebecca said.

“The closest we could come up with is haunting. We were commemorating on the site which, 100 years ago, was a scene of bloodshed for our soldiers and great loss for their families,” Ms Hutchinson added.

Ms Hutchinson said it was an “absolute privilege” and a “huge responsibility” to represent their families, school and the Orange community at the commemorative sites.

“Each student has been an excellent ambassador during this trip. They excelled in their own way, whether formally, such as Andrew being chosen to lay the wreath due to his leadership and citizenship displayed and recognised throughout the tour, and informally, like Jacinta and Alissa who were readily able to talk with people of all ages and backgrounds about our trip. Rebecca was an excellent and capable communicator, creating networks with many other students, breaking us all out of our own school groupings and making this a richer experience as a result,” Ms Hutchinson said.

“This is as well as making a lasting impression on the tour leaders for their resilience, calmness and maturity.”

The students will return to Australia today after nine days of travelling and visiting battle sites and attending services.