From Monday 23rd to Wednesday 25th of October, Year 6 students at Good Shepherd were given the massive opportunity to take part in Camp at the beautiful Campaspe Downs.They took part in activities that included the use of skills such as teamwork, participation, cerebration and physical work. These activities included Abseiling, Sensory Trail, Canoeing, Initiatives, Aeroball, Flying Fox, Leap of Faith, Orienteering, Passport to the World and Sports Night. Megan was our camp leader and she ran lots of the activities for us and she was absolutely wonderful!

Whilst we were there we celebrated Mr Packwood's and Samara’s birthdays too! We all sang happy birthday and they were given a cake to celebrate. The food at camp was actually so good! We had pasta, chocolate cake, scrambled eggs, baked beans, chicken burgers, rice, chicken drumsticks, ice cream, pancakes and sausages. We also had access to a salad bar, bread and fruit at any time of the day! It was YUM!

Our accommodation was like a block of apartments with a deck the whole way around. We were split into cabin groups and all had our own bunk beds! It was lots of fun!

Hirushi (6W), Dilana (6W) and Lucas (6G)

Orienteering

In orienteering, students went through various activities like memory and map skills before being given a complex map to work out different locations of stamps to be the first to win this competitive race. Students needed to have many skills in this activity including stamina, teamwork, map reading skills and cooperation. This activity gave students an opportunity to explore the campsite called Campaspe Downs while also having fun running around and having smiles on their faces. With this amazing activity, students learnt how to properly read a map with keys and learnt how to collaborate and work together. In this activity many points were scattered around the campsite which gave this adventure a happy and hard twist with many being close while on the other hand some being really far.

Harrison (6W) & Jayden (6W)

Flying Fox

Before attending the flying fox, everyone was given a top and bottom harness to attach onto our bodies. We were given a chance to participate in a fun activity that involves ziplining across a lake and looking at an enormous view of many healthy plants and trees that spread over a wonderful field. As we tightened our harnesses we got into groups of 4 so we could glide down the zip line while racing our friends till the end of the hill. With the help of our 2 group leaders we were able to get down the flying fox safely. We flew across the gorgeous lake and even thought we were going to touch the water! After finishing the flying fox, we noticed some buff kangaroos and fluffy rabbits along the way to the next activity.

Lucy (6G) and Makayla (6W)

Leap of Faith

For one of the activities we were given the opportunity to participate in a fun and enjoyable activity called the Leap of Faith. The Leap of Faith is an activity where you are attached to a harness and you climb up onto a high platform then jump off and try to touch a ball. After you jump the harness catches you and you swing all the way to the ground. Four children and an adult on the ground pulled the rope to support the person who was jumping down. There were two places you could jump from. There was the platform that you jumped off and a pole that had nothing to hang on to; each one almost 25 metres in the air. Everyone gave it a go even if they were terrified and some people even overcame their fear of heights, we are all so proud of everyone giving it a go!

Samara (6W), Ilara (6H) and Chloe (6H)

Aeroball

Students had to separate and choose a partner and make a team name. Right after they had decided on a team name they had to go up to go get a number. When the team's number was called they had to do five jumping jacks and take their shoes off to go into the aeroball compartment. Once two teams are in the compartment they have to sit down on the trampoline and wait for the leader to announce them to start. Students had to use certain skills while playing like aiming and jumping. Since you have to jump to score it is a stamina based game. There are also two teams on each side counting how many times a ball goes into the goal. When half time was called the teams were separated from each other and had to go solo. The new rules of the game are that you have to score in your own net. The top net is 2 points and the bottom net is 1 point. Everyone had a blast and all had a turn.

Sean (6H) and Alex (6W) and Victor (6W)

Canoeing

On a Tuesday afternoon, the rippling water sparkled under the sky in the vast lake. The students grabbed a paddle and a life jacket. Then all the students gathered around for the instructors to teach us how to use the paddle and how to turn using the paddles. Once we all got the hang of it, we boarded the canoes in pairs. One by one, students got their canoes on the rippling water and gathered around for the instructors to play a game called water polo. The aim of the game was to get a ball inside the instructor’s canoes. If it bounced out, we got one point and if it stayed in, we got two points. The teams were the plastic canoes versus the wooden canoes. After the game, we paddled back to the shore and took a group photo in the water. In the session, Miss Hall splashed all of us and most of the people got wet. Only a few people were completely dry. It’s okay though, we definitely got our revenge on Miss Hall!! After the session, students were given time to dry off and take a shower.

Andrew (6W) and Yuan (6W)

Initiatives

On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, students gathered on a basketball court to participate in a series of activities that tested the student’s teamwork and physical skills. These activities include getting a team from one side of a basketball court to another with mats, getting a ball into a bucket with pipes and more. The students had a few warm-up activities that required them to order themselves into a certain category like shoe sizes and age. Then came the real challenges that needed more cooperation to complete a pipe game where you have to make a pipeline and get a tennis ball into the bucket. This activity needed cooperation as there were not enough people so we had to move around to get the ball to the other side.

Andrew (6W), Yuan (6W), Mark (6W) and Liam D (6G)

Abseiling

Another fun activity we had the opportunity to do was abseiling. Abseiling is when you put a harness on and go up to the top of a very tall tower and walk backwards down the wall while the harness is holding and supporting you. This was another activity that a lot of people were very scared to do but once again everybody gave it a go and did their best.

By Samara (6W), Ilara (6G) and Chloe (6W)

Sensory Trail

After dropping our bags on the table, we were given blacked out goggles that covered our entire vision. We played some warm up games to get used to the goggles and we had to use our other senses to get our way. When we were done with our warm-up, we had to link hands and hold a rope while going through various obstacles. We had to use our communication skills to navigate through the course and get to the end all without our vision so our other senses had to work extra hard.

Darren (6G) & Victor (6W)

Passport to the World

On the first night we were called to the activity hall. We looked around and found out it had been transformed into an airport and Megan, our camp leader, was the customs officer. We were divided into 9 groups and given a passport with twenty countries to travel to. In our teams, we had to use a map to find the location of various flags representing each country. Each map led you to a different country. However, finding them was easier said than done considering darkness shrouded us like fog. When we found the country, there were three quiz questions which we had to answer correctly in order to be given our map for the next country. We earned points for each question we answered correctly. We then had to go back to the airport, pass through customs and give Megan our passport to stamp and she would then give us a new country to travel to. After 90 minutes, we were called back to the airport. Our points were then tallied up and 2 winners were decided.

Darren (6G) and Johann (6G)

Sports Night

On the second night we had a Sports Night. Students followed a set of rules and principles before being split up into 8 teams with at least 7-8 children per group. We warmed up with a game of chaos tag. After that, we began our sporting competition. There were 4 games including; human bowling, tarp volleyball, ultimate frisbee and bean bag bucket toss. The Fisho’s were our winners! We finished the night with a game of dodgeball. Even the teachers played! Owen, our instructor, joined in too and got lots of us out. But we had lots of fun!

Harrison (6W) and Victor (6W)

Year 6 Camp was a wonderful experience for all who attended. The students were complimented on their behaviour and they reflected our school values throughout the camp. Despite its challenges, the camp was an absolute success and we are very proud of our students.

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