Excursions
Ag Quip Excursion
Our Year 11 Agriculture class along with our Year 9 and 10 Agricultural Technology elective class embarked on our annual trip to Ag Quip. Some of these students have been able to witness the Tamworth and Gunnedah areas at their best 2 years ago, and unfortunately at their worst in 2018. It was surprising and heartwarming though, to speak to many farmers about the positive way in which they have been able to manage their properties and the resilient way in which they approach these conditions.
Our students had the opportunity to view this largest Agricultural display in Australia. There was large machinery, lots of the latest and greatest in technology; especially the drone and solar technologies. If you need a tool for just about any job, Ag Quip is the place to go.
Thank you to Mr Alley for driving us and to the teachers who joined us. The students represented the College well and appreciated this opportunity.
Duke of Ed 2018 - Crowdy Bay National Park Year 9 Expedition
This year’s expedition to Crowdy Bay National Park proved to be a challenging adventure. With preparation and training in areas of using
- hiking tents
- gas hiking stoves
- hiking packs
- navigation – mapping grid references and bearings
- basic first aid for bush walking
- menu planning
The aim of this excursion is to use concepts learnt in subjects such as Geography, Mathematics, Science, PDHPE and Food Technology in a practical context as well as develop in perseverance, resilience and working with others.
For those students who have chosen to commit to undertake their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, this is a compulsory practice journey. In Term 4 they will complete another qualifying journey of a similar nature. These students are also required to complete three months each of skill development, voluntary service to the community and undertake a physical recreation, plus another three months of one of these areas of choice. For more information about the Duke of Edinburgh awards refer to the website www.dukeofed.com.au or for our school involvement contact Mrs Nancy Green.
Thank you to the wonderful teachers and staff who offered their time to make this excursion possible, Mr James Dawson, Mr Brent Donaldson, Mr Phil Alley, Mr Michael Lawson, Mrs Cath Grimwood, Miss Amanda Tatzenko, Mrs Renee Boots and the support of administration staff.
The following are some student reflections.
One student made the comment that he would be able to complete this hike so easily without the pack. It is the pack that makes it challenging. He finished with a great sense of achievement.
Kaylee:
The Year 9 Crowdy Bay hike was challenging but at the same time loads of fun. It helped us get to know each other more, as well as helping us motivate the people who found it more challenging than others. We further developed lots of skills and knowledge such as team work, learning how to read a map, perseverance and endurance. It’s was lots of fun finding friends along the way such as a “squished” lizard called Bruce, a tiny dead fish called Bobby and Brian who was a dried-up frog. We managed to set up our own tents, make our own food and carry all of our equipment both days such as food, water, bedding, clothes, etc. The weather was great, the sun wasn’t too hot but there was a bit of wind in the afternoon. The beach was lovely to walk on and we saw a few whales playing around splashing their tails.
Lucy:
On Thursday 20th of September 2018 at approximately 9:30am Year 9 started our trek for our practice Duke of Edinburgh walk. We all hopped off the bus at the Crowdy Bay Surf Club excited about what was going to come later on in the day, we lifted our very heavy back bags on, put on some sunscreen and a hat and walked down towards the beach to start our journey. After walking along the beach for a couple of kilometres we turned off at “Abby’s Picnic Area” to stop, relax and have lunch. After relaxing for a while we all got up and split of into separate groups to continue our hike to the camp site. My group got to take the road route to the camp on the first day, we saw pretty flowers and wildlife along the way. We stopped a couple of times to catch our breath and take our back packs off to have a little snack. After several hours my group survived, we walked in total 21.5km and finally arrived at our Kylie’s Beach campsite.
At the campsite, we unpacked our bags and got the tent out, found a flat space and pitched our tent and then got all of our sleeping equipment ready for bed. We got our pots out of a bag and the gas bottles from the teachers and started to cook up our own diners to eat. Once we finished our diners we had to clean up our pots and pans and dry them off. We all got dressed into our pyjamas and sat around the campfire playing Uno and other fun games, after a while we hopped into our tent with our buddy and rested up for another day of hiking.
When the sun came up in the morning it was time for us to start cooking our breakfast, getting changed and packing up our tents neatly. After all of our equipment was packed in our bags again we starting hiking back in our groups. My group had to hike along the beach trail for the second day, after hiking along the beach for a while we turned off at “Abbey’s Picnic Area” like we did the day before to have lunch. After lunch, we had the choice to continue hiking along the road or get picked up, I chose to keep walking. After walking for an hour and a half we finally reached the end of our hike and hopped back on the bus and headed back to school.
Whilst on the Duke of Edinburgh hike I enjoyed myself greatly, I had a blast hiking, singing and talking with my peers. It’s a challenging walk but with friends to motivate you along the way it is easier to accomplish.
