Year 7

Leah McBryde

Pastoral Leader Year 7

YEAR 7 NEWS…

In Week 4 we were fortunate enough to attend camp at Echo Creek, Tully. This was a wonderful experience for the Year 7 students and staff over the three days. Students were involved in a variety of activities that were very different to the normal classroom activities students are used to at St Mary’s. I would like to personally thank all the teachers and staff who attended the camp to support the Year 7 students. Please see below four short articles from Year 7 students experiences whilst on camp.

COVID-19

It is unfortunate that we have had to postpone a lot of events that were to take place in the College due to the recent Covid-19 outbreak in Cairns. Please keep up to date with messages coming out regarding the postponed activities and their new dates. Students will need to make sure they are checking emails and reading notices to not miss opportunities presented to them. At this stage the running festival as ben moved to Monday – Week 10. We hope as the term progresses and the restrictions ease, we will be able to introduce more of the activities we have come to know in the future.

Assessment

We are nearing the end of term quickly. Please take this time to go through your child’s assessment calendar and make sure they are meeting the deadlines. Week 8 and 9 and most heavy with assessment taking place in those weeks. If you have any concerns about meeting these deadlines due to illness or travel, please contact your classroom teacher at your earliest convenience so accommodations can be made. Students should be doing around 1.5 hours of homework each night to keep consistency with heir subjects and achieve the best academic result possible.

Year 7 Camp Experiences

My experience at camp was challenging as well as one of the best times of my life. I participated in all the activities possible, and I thoroughly enjoyed them all. I personally enjoyed rock climbing the most because it was the most challenging and I learned to do something new. At camp I saw many people stand up as leaders to help guide each other and I also saw everyone helping each other through their challenges. Camp was a great experience to get to know new people and challenge yourself along the way. – Mia Coates

The Year 7 camp was THE BEST! We were lucky enough to go to Echo Creek with our friends and our energetic and enthusiastic teachers. We participated in many great activities such as abseiling/rock climbing, a commando course, laser tag, team building and many more. The night activities were so good because we played sardines, challenge/trivia, relays, and so much more. The most popular evening activity was dancing. Thank you to the teachers who went and especially Ms McBryde for organising the whole thing - it was an unforgettable experience. – Max Hagedoorn

Echo Creek Adventure Centre – wow, what a great place for the Year 7 cohort to have a camping adventure. Students participated in many activities such as laser tag, rock climbing, swimming, abseiling, raft building, orienteering and a mud pit challenge course. These activities challenged students at different levels and required persistence and at times teamwork to complete successfully. At night we enjoyed quizzes with “a minute to win it”, relays, bush dancing, and torch games including lantern slap and sardines. Time sitting around the fire was also relaxing as Miss Benedetti and Mr Will displayed their musical talents. Other team leaders demonstrated their courageous driving skills through creeks and off road.

A quick poll of students described the camp as fun, enjoyable, active, tiring, cold, challenging, out of my comfort zone, entertaining and exciting. An enormous thank you to Miss McBryde and the other home form and subject teachers who tirelessly worked to organize and ensure a successful trip. – Jacob Majer