Ways to Wellbeing
Year 7 Camp
One hundred and t Year 7 students went on Camp to The TOPS at Stanwell Tops during Week 9. Three action packed days of activities saw lots of personal growth, new friendships formed, and some tired eyes come home on Wednesday afternoon. Three of our students have given their reflections of Camp.
“Year Camp was amazing. I overcame many of my fears (heights) and challenged myself to persevere. I loved the High Ropes course. It was a fun challenge, and I really enjoyed the Giant Swing after the drop to enjoy the lovely view below. The teamwork was amazing to keep me from dying on the Leap of Faith. In the end I enjoyed my time at TOPS. I loved jamming to the Silent Disco and hitting pose 28 in the Newspaper fashion show. Overall, the experience with my friends was the best as we all got along and had a few good laughs. The Go-karts were fun and really challenging to keep my hips straight and not crash was the challenge and as they say, "practice makes perfect”. I felt safe in the harnesses and helmets for all the activities. It was good to be away from home and spend time alone with my friends. Survivor was a fun challenge to help with communication and trust skills. In the end, camp was one of the best experiences I’ve ever done!” - Alexis T
“At camp I liked the Giant Swing because you got to swing over a cliff and see the ocean which was really fun. I also loved doing Go-karting and racing people. Also, the Leap of Faith was fun being up high and jumping off and putting your faith in people holding you up. Archery was fun shooting and playing Cards of Destiny seeing if it would double our teams' points. The Survivor was fun balancing on a big plank and the treeline was fun because I was up high and going over obstacles. My favourite night activity was the Silent Disco and singing loudly without knowing you’re that loud. The dress up with Newspaper was funny seeing the outfits on stage and then there was a few challenges we had to do." - Annabella S
“The best thing was beating the other kids in Go-karts and the food was great. The second dinner was the best food for the whole day. In the tree tops the Zipline was fun. I like the fact that we were in cabins with our friends and I beat the teacher in the activities.” - David M
Support for our Senior Students and their parents
The senior years of high school can be a stressful time for students and their families. There are two exciting events coming up that can support our CHS community to navigate the senior years with confidence,
Firstly, Macquarie University are hosting a free webinar on how parents can support their teens to cope with Year 11 and 12 study stress. Throughout this webinar Dr Jessica Belcher will draw on current research to discuss why students feel stressed, what stress might look like, and when parents need to worry about their teen's stress. Jessica will also give some helpful tips on what parents can do to help their teen manage stress throughout their final years of high school.
You can register now: https://ow.ly/Khq550TjEcV
Secondly, the CHS wellbeing team will be running SWoS (Study without Stress) for our senior students every term starting Term 4 this year. SWoS equips students with knowledge and practical tips on how to approach and overcome the stress associated with heavy workload and exams in the final years of high school.
SWoS was developed by Macquarie University and will be run at school over 8 sessions in a small group format.
The program covers the following topics:
- understanding stress (including causes, symptoms and the role of the stress response)
- goal setting
- managing expectations and beliefs about exams
- creating effective timetables
- learning how thoughts can affect performance
- challenging negative or unhelpful thinking patterns
- understanding perfectionism and procrastination
- tips to deal with work avoidance
- building good study habits
- procedures for problem solving
- exam preparation
If you feel your child may benefit from participating in the SWoS program, please email the school on camden-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au
For more information, please visit:
Brekky Club
You may have noticed several older people hanging outside the library on a Friday morning before the bell. These awesome volunteers from Camden Uniting have offered to help us with the Brekky Club – a free breakfast for any student needing something to eat before starting the day.
Make sure you come by and say Hi - grab some cereal, fruit or a muesli bar.
The wellbeing team is keen to chat to any local businesses wanting to build a partnership with CHS to further support this great initiative. Please contact the school if you would like to help.
Camden Tradie Program.
Camden Tradies works with select year 7 and 8 students giving them opportunity of using their hands to learn practical skills, while helping them regulate and reset with the desired hope of getting back into class for other types of learning. We now have a Student Shed to complement our Tradie Program initiative. The Shed is providing a space for students to work on practical projects. Recently we had several students help service a lawn mower and make minor repairs to mountain bikes. Other activities include cleaning the school minibus, planting native shrubs around the school and maintaining the garden bed we planned and built together last year.
