Year 11 Phillip Island Study Camp.

On Wednesday the 12th of February until Friday the 14th of February, 125 Year 11 students and 14 staff members travelled to the beautiful Phillip Island to CYC The Island camp site. 

It was a hot and muggy day when we arrived at around lunch time. We dumped our luggage on the campsite porch and started our adventure. We walked into the Cowes shopping centre to have a bit of lunch before we started our day with the first of our workshops. Our first workshops started with staff introducing ourselves and our own educational journeys. There were some inspirational anecdotes and lots of laughs at our old school photos especially Mr McDermott’s Year 12 photo…LOL. Our next workshop was led by our wonderful community mentors Aliet, Eisay and Jossy, who are all former students of MSC. These young people bravely shared their stories of their journey from MSC to their current studies, work, and life experiences. Our Year 11s were hooked and enjoyed every minute of it. With the first lot of workshops done for the day, it was time to explore. On a hot 35-degree day, the pool was the hot spot for most of our kids. The rest had a chance to settle into their rooms and chill in the main meeting room. In the evening, we had a campfire going where some of our students’ roasted marshmallows. At the same time, the Karaoke was rocking the night away in the main meeting room.

Thursday was our biggest day yet. First thing in the morning, we took a walk down to the beautiful Cowes Beach. It was a splendid morning and great start to the day. We then had two more workshops led by our fabulous Ms Webster on dealing with stress and our newest staff member, Ms Reeves led a workshop on motivation and the importance of setting goals. The rest of the afternoon was filled with activities ranging from bike ride, giant swing, Archery, flying fox, walk to the beach (no swimming) and of course, the pool was open again and a big hit with the kids. After dinner, kids headed back to their rooms to prepare for either a Movie night or Disco night. We had a few kids enjoy Shrek for their movie night whilst most of our kids had a blast on the dance floor with Just Dance. Of course, we had a big hit with the Macarena, Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’ and all-time favourite, Silento’s “Watch me (Whip/Nae Nae).”  

Next morning, we let the kids sleep in for a little bit while a few early risers took another morning stroll with Ms Reeves down to Cowes Beach. We had our final workshop on time management and sorting out our study planners before heading out to the centre of Cowes for lunch. After lunch, it was time to head back to Melton. Staff and students had an amazing adventure. Many a core memory were made. I am not a camp person, so I was operating out of my comfort zone, and I absolutely loved it. I returned with a newfound appreciation for anyone who has to organise such a big event especially the people who work behind the scenes. Another big thank you to everyone, staff, and students, who made our Year 11 Phillip Island Study Camp a HUGEEEE Success.

Fa’afetai Lava.

Mrs Temu Mauga

Head of Year 11