Boys Mentoring Program

Our Boys Mentoring Program continues to run each week, bringing small groups of boys from Years 7 to 9 together for structured, hands-on sessions. The focus is simple but deliberate: give boys a reason to talk to one another, a shared problem to solve, and a space where contributing an idea feels safe. What looks like a game on the surface is doing real work underneath.

The Trials: Problem-Solving Under Pressure

Recent sessions have centred on a series of team challenges the boys have come to know as 'The Trials'. Working in small groups against the clock, they are handed a set of materials, a written brief and very little else. Some challenges test lateral thinking, others test patience and precision — but all of them require the group to communicate clearly, listen to one another and agree on a plan before acting.

What makes these tasks valuable is not the solution but the process. Boys quickly discover that the loudest voice is not always the most useful one, that a good idea from a quieter group member can be missed if nobody makes room for it, and that blaming one another when an attempt fails costs the group time it cannot afford. These are the same skills that serve them well in the classroom, on the sporting field and in their friendships.

The Tower Challenge

One of the most popular challenges to date has asked groups to build the tallest free-standing tower they can from an assortment of drink cans, with limited time and no second attempts once the structure begins to lean. It is a task that rewards planning over speed. Groups that rushed straight in watched their towers topple; those that paused, sorted their materials and agreed on a base before building went considerably higher.

The debrief afterwards is where the learning lands. Boys are asked to name what their group did well, what cost them, and who took responsibility when things went wrong. Honest reflection of this kind does not come naturally to most adolescents, and building the habit is one of the programme's central aims.

Why It Matters

Adolescence can be an isolating stretch for boys. Friendship groups shift, social confidence wavers, and many find it difficult to ask for help or admit when something is hard. The mentoring programme deliberately creates low-stakes situations where boys must rely on one another, and where asking a question or offering an idea is simply part of the task rather than a risk.

Across the sessions we have seen boys who rarely speak up in class take the lead on a challenge, and boys who normally dominate learn to hand over the reins. Mixing the Year 7 to 9 cohorts has been particularly effective, with older students often stepping naturally into a mentoring role without being asked.

Mr Nick Stamatis

Boys Advisor | Boys Mentoring Programme Coordinator

PDHPE Faculty, Kellyville High School

Meet Cooper B.: Capturing the Sounds and Sights of Wildlife

Cooper B. is a valued member of our Media Team, where his role is to capture sound and help bring our stories to life.

Outside of school, Cooper has a passion for wildlife photography. His keen eye and patience behind the camera have resulted in some outstanding photographs, capturing the beauty and character of wildlife.

We’re proud to showcase some of Cooper’s incredible work in these photos and celebrate his creativity both behind the microphone and behind the camera.

Year 11 Urban Challenge

Year 11 recently had an exciting and memorable time at Urban Challenge. The experience gave students the opportunity to step outside their usual routines, challenge themselves and work together as a team.

Throughout the day, students took part in a range of activities that tested their communication, confidence and problem-solving skills. There were plenty of laughs, a few challenges along the way, and lots of encouragement between classmates.

It was a fantastic opportunity for Year 11 to build stronger connections and create some great memories together. A big thank you to everyone who helped make the day such a success!

Team 1

Wednesday began like any normal day. Or at least that’s what we thought... Our group gathered together and boarded the metro to the city completely unaware that we were about to turn an ordinary Wednesday into a full-blown wild West adventure. The Metro became our train through the desert and by the time we reached place, we were ready for whatever the city could throw at us.

Unfortunately, the city threw a shootout. Nobody really knew how it started (it was us) but suddenly everyone was acting like we were wanted outlaws. We eventually escaped the chaos and continued exploring.

Not long after we discovered the legendary boar statue naturally we had to get a group photo with it. But then things escalated. Someone decided the boar needed to be shot. And so the boar was dramatically defeated.

After our heroic battle, we discovered a geocache proving that our group possessed at least some genuine explorer skills. We then continued on our journey until we reached a beautiful waterfall. For a brief moment there was peace.

We gave flowers to random strangers spreading kindness throughout the Wilder West. We posed for handstands but besides statues took ridiculous photos and spotted our trusty Steed. He was thirsty. Naturally, we hydrated the horse. Then came another shootout. And another. And somehow, another.

At this point, nobody was sure who was fighting who anymore. I, the journalist seemed particularly committed to documenting the violence by participating in approximately every single shootout. Eventually, we decided that being Cowboys wasn’t confusing enough. So we became birds. We wandered around to pretend pretending to be birds completely confusing everyone around us. Soon enough. I was promoted from ordinary bird to bird queen and the rest of them were forced to worship me. It was a strange moment in history.

Then came the greatest battle of the day: lunch. We discovered a tasty feast, but had to fight our way with real birds to keep our meal. Once the battle was over, we changed his tactics.

Instead of fighting for food, we decided to sing for lollies. We performed California girls with enough confidence to convince ourselves we were professional singers. Somehow, our performance actually worked and we walked away with lollies. Victory.

We then found a phone booth and took photos inside because apparently we hadn’t taken enough photos already.

Next came the giant furniture. We climbed all over it and officially declared ourselves conquerors of the furniture kingdom.

Then, in a shocking term of events, Jason assassinated someone through a window. The group stood in disbelief. There was no time to stay, however, because we had important business to attend to: trick or treating the urban office. We approached the office like a gang of tiny Western criminals and somehow managed to get treats.

After that we attempted a human pyramid. It was ambitious unstable and probably not our group’s greatest achievement but we did it.

Eventually, our exhaustion began to take over. The boys decided it was time for a snooze leaving the rest of us to continue the expedition while they were recovered from their exhausting lives as wild West outlaws on a bench.

Finally after a full day of trains, shootouts, statues, geocaches waterfalls, birds, chicken battles, singing giant furniture and questionable decisions we arrived at our accommodation.

And then - The party began -We had survived Wednesday in the wilder west.Nobody knew exactly what had happened, except us. Nobody could explain why we had become birds. Nobody knew why Jason shot the boar. And nobody was quite sure why Jason decided to become an assassin. But one thing was certain: it had been one hell of a Wednesday..

Team 2

Celebrities were met by their tour guide, Jay he introduced them to the city and got them ready for their adventure. Then they were set on a journey to find their way to the end, they started off finding little clues around the city. They went through their ups and downs some fights occurred, Lorde had gotten heated with the group and decided that she was going to complain, which caused Central Cee and Ice spice to get a bit mad. In the end they made it and had a nice view over the Harbour Bridge and everyone healed as they figured out what they are going to eat tonight for dinner.

Team 3

The Eastern Odyssey

Our second day dropped us right back into the wild, and the grind did not stop. If Day 1 was about finding our footing in this concrete region, Day 2 was all about racking up massive EXP and clearing our quest log. With our Pokémon onesies equipped, we hit the streets to tackle everything the Game Master threw at us.

Morning Grind and Crafting Pokéblocks

The morning kicked off early with us returning our key cards and boarding the transport bus to 166 William Street. While in transit, we booted up our devices for a mini-game, successfully guessing 16 out of 18 animated movies and securing a quick 400 points. By 9:30 am, we met up with Awesome Guide Emma for a special "Cook 4 Good" event. We spent the morning crafting meals for locals in need, which was a brilliant side quest that earned the team a massive 500 bonus points.

Water Routes and Wild Encounters

Next, we navigated our way down to the Bondi Beach water route. En route, the Game Master tested our stats with an audio quiz. We perfectly identified 7 out of 7 song tracks, bagging 175 points. Once we hit the sand in full team uniform, we snapped a squad photo for 200 points before trading with local merchants to secure a bulk takeaway seafood lunch.

The beach challenges were absolutely scuffed but so much fun. We had a strict 10-minute timer to use our Ground-type skills and construct a team-themed sandcastle, which ultimately scored an A+ rating from our teacher. Right after that, we went hunting for wild encounters on the boardwalk, securing 5 different selfies with cute dogs for our next objective.

Smeargle Art and NPC Wisdom

Further down the path, we discovered a graffiti mural. We had to creatively interact with three distinct artworks, earning 300 points for our engagement. We also had to track down a local NPC elder to ask for life advice. They dropped some solid wisdom, telling us to not worry so much, work hard, and hold our family close. This officially completed our Eastern Odyssey module, rewarding us with a whooping 2000 points.

Healing Up and The Bowling Arena

We utilised the transit system to fast travel, catching the 333 and 440 busses to our next Pokémon Center, the Sydney Central YHA. The Game Master messaged us saying they could literally smell the team through the text, so hitting the showers was mandatory.

After healing up, we regrouped for a massive dinner. While Guide Emma originally plotted a meetup for Kiroran Silk Road Uyghur Restaurant, we found ourselves securing a feed at Mary's Hot Pizza for our squad of 13. To cap off the night, we entered the Strike Bowling arena at the Entertainment Quarter. We hurled our heavy spheres down the lanes, finished the tournament by 8:21 pm, and headed out into the night to hunt for dessert. Day 2 is clear, and our team level is higher than ever.

Team 4

Great Scott! I've gone and done it again! Stranded somewhere in time... I don't even know where - or when - I could be!

And It was all because of that McFly kid, damnit! A single rock of the trainand his drink goes careening into Verney's boiler.. A little imbalance of heat with my superheated steam and the entire thing explodes, ripping apart my sweet Verney into a million little pieces! But somehow, there are more pressing matters than that:

The flux capacitor was right on top of the boiler, and the explosion not only shattered it, but gave it enough energy and speed to start a jump! - why would I put the most important piece of the train on the most explosive?! Marty must be rubbing off on me.. Anyhow, when the capacitor casing blew, each flux rod must've flown out in every direction, ripping a great hole through the space-time fabric as they were pulled through into this strange new place, and us with them.

But it seems we may not be the only victims of this jump... As each piece of Verney flew out in space-time, whatever was in alignment with them would've bene pulled back through the rip with it, taking whatever (or whoever0 back with them. And unless we happened to find a very unlucky historical re-enactment group, we ripped a large hole in space-time. According to my calculations, we may only have 3 days to rebuild the flux capacitor and bring everybody home.

If we can't do it by them? Great Scott, I don't even want to think about it. What historical events are being missed already! The parts of the flux capacitor must be spread across this place we're in - at least it seems to be a city of some sort. If we can reassemble a prototype - whilst keeping our time travelling friends as close as possible - we might just make it out of here.

We've already saved the universe thrice, why not make it quatrice?

Team 5

We began our last day of the urban challenge at 6am watching the sunrise and shortly after we had a big breakfast, said goodbye to our hostel as we headed to darling harbour.

We caught a ferry and traveled through darling harbour completing many quests. We played in the playgrounds, photographing many fun moments. We posed along the river with umbrellas and visited tiktok alley, discovering the meaning behind the big digital wall filled with numbers, made a tiktok doing the renegade dance and we even recreated team pose.

We headed throughout the Chinese gardens spotting the diver statue and finding out it’s origin. We also visited the botanical gardens, conducting a thai chi group routine. There, we were met with team 6 and we had a hectic dance battle. The teachers began the dance battle and the students on our team soon followed as we whipped out all sorts of tricks such as headstands, breakdancing, the worm, the helicopter and amazing dance moves. Both teams tied and were awarded 1000 points.

After our darling harbour trip concluded, it was finally time for lunch. We walked along the water to coles and we bought a cheap but delicious meal consisting of 2 chickens, bread rolls and baguettes. We set up our picnic upon the grass and enjoyed our meal.

Then we headed to Barangaroo to get ourselves a sweet treat with the $140 we managed to save from our budget. We sat along the water and enjoyed our last moments before we headed to central to meet everyone one last time before we went home.

Team 6

Wednesday feels like a lifetime ago.

What started as a simple mission for our team of explorers quickly turned into a city-wide disaster. Somewhere along the way, we had made one very important mistake: we accidentally released a collection of wild animals into Sydney. Since then, the city had never been the same. The animals had scattered in every direction, disturbing the peace, causing chaos and somehow always managing to stay one step ahead of us.

For the past three days, our mission had been clear: find every escaped animal, capture them and return them safely to their cages. It sounded simple enough. It definitely wasn't.

Over the first two days, we had already managed to track down and capture a lion and a bear. Of course, we couldn't have done it alone. We had received some unexpected help from the world-famous explorer, Dora the Explorer, and her loyal monkey companion, Boots. With their expert navigation skills, questionable map-reading and endless enthusiasm, we had somehow managed to bring two animals back under control.

But on the final day, there were still two animals missing. A panda. And a tiger. And according to our latest clues, they were somewhere in the Sydney CBD. We knew this was going to be our toughest challenge yet.

As the final day of Urban Challenge Camp began, our team gathered together for one last mission. The explorers were tired after three days of running around Sydney, solving clues and hunting down animals that clearly had no interest in being found. But there was no turning back now. The lion and bear were safely returned, but the panda and tiger were still out there. Somewhere. Waiting.

We made our way into the heart of Sydney, searching through the busy streets and crowded pathways. Around us, the city was alive. People rushed between buildings, buses rolled past and the sound of traffic echoed through the streets. It was hard to imagine that two escaped zoo animals could be hiding somewhere nearby.

But eventually, we found our first clue.

The trail led us towards a surprisingly peaceful part of the city. Surrounded by trees, gardens and open green spaces, it was easy to forget that we were standing in the middle of Sydney's busy CBD. It was the perfect hiding place for two animals trying to escape the noise and chaos of the city.

Then we saw movement. For a second, everything went quiet. Hidden amongst the natural scenery were the panda and the tiger. We had finally found them. Unfortunately, they had also found us. The moment the explorers moved closer, both animals took off.

And so began the final chase. The panda and tiger raced away through the city, disappearing around corners and forcing us to sprint after them. One minute we thought we had them trapped, and the next they were gone again. We chased them through streets, around buildings and across open spaces, trying desperately not to lose them. But somehow, we did.

For a brief moment, the explorers had no idea where the animals had gone.

The panda and tiger had disappeared into the city once again, leaving us searching through Sydney with nothing but a few clues and a growing sense of panic. After everything we had been through, we couldn't let the final two animals escape on the last day.

So, we kept going.

The chase continued throughout the day as we solved challenges, followed clues and worked together to track down the two runaway animals. Everywhere we went, there was a new obstacle waiting for us. The animals seemed to be causing a rampage across the city, leaving confusion behind them as they escaped from one location to the next.

At times, it felt like they were always just ahead of us. But eventually, our clues led us to one final location. Hyde Park. By this point, the explorers were determined to finish what we had started. After three days of adventure, there was no way we were going home without completing our mission. We searched through the park, scanning every pathway, tree and open space.

Then, finally, we spotted them. The panda and tiger had run out of places to hide. With one final burst of energy, our team surrounded them. After a long chase across Sydney, countless clues and three days of chaos, the final animals had been captured. Mission complete.

All four animals were finally safe. The lion, the bear, the panda and the tiger had all been returned to their cages, and Sydney could finally return to its natural peace.

As our final day came to an end, it was strange to think that our adventure was already over. Over three days, we had transformed from ordinary students into a team of explorers on a mission across Sydney. We had solved challenges, raced through the city, followed clues and worked together to capture animals that had somehow managed to cause chaos everywhere they went.

There were plenty of moments when we were tired, lost or wondering where the animals could possibly have disappeared to next. But those moments were all part of what made the adventure so memorable.

In the end, the animals were returned, the city was saved and the explorers could finally go home.

After three days of chaos, adventure and unforgettable memories, our mission had finally come to an end. Sydney was safe again. The zoo was complete. And even though Dora and Boots had disappeared as mysteriously as they had arrived, one thing was certain: The Great Sydney Zoo Escape was an adventure we will remember forever.

Team 7

The tourists awoke bright and early at 6am, greeted by their very first Sydney sunrise! After a sleepy start, they caught the train and bus towards one of Sydney’s most iconic destinations — Bondi Beach.

As soon as they arrived, the tourists were left staring in wonder at the endless stretch of golden sand, sparkling blue water and the famous Bondi coastline. Coming all the way from London, they couldn’t believe just how beautiful the Australian beach lifestyle really was. They seriously considered diving straight into the crystal-clear ocean… although the chilly morning air made them think twice!

Before braving the water, the tourists found a cosy café tucked away from the wind and treated themselves to a delicious, warm drink. With their hands wrapped around their cups, they huddled together and enjoyed the warmth before heading back towards the beach.

Eventually, the tourists gathered enough courage to take a dip in the famous Bondi waters! They splashed around in the waves, relaxed their toes in the soft sand and strolled along the coastline, meeting some of the famously tanned Aussie surfers along the way. For a group used to London’s streets, Bondi was certainly a very different kind of morning!

After working up an appetite, the tourists headed off for lunch and discovered another Australian classic — Oporto! They ordered a delicious, spicy feast and fuelled up for what would become one of the most meaningful missions of their entire Sydney adventure.

Their next stop was Woolloomooloo Kids Give Back, an organisation dedicated to supporting people experiencing homelessness by providing nutritious food, essential supplies and a helping hand to those in need.

The tourists rolled up their sleeves and got to work, preparing an incredible 120 penne pesto veggie pasta meals. What began as a simple cooking activity quickly became a powerful learning experience. Through conversations and hands-on volunteering, they learnt about the complex and nuanced realities of homelessness, including the many social and economic factors that can contribute to housing insecurity.

For the tourists, the experience also encouraged them to reflect on their own lives and the privileges they often take for granted. Coming from their homes in London, they were reminded that having a safe, stable place to sleep and access to food and basic necessities is something that should never be assumed.

After a long but incredibly rewarding day, the tourists packed up and headed towards their next destination — their brand-new hostel in none other than Circular Quay!

With the Harbour Bridge and Opera House practically on their doorstep, the tourists could hardly believe their luck. After a jam-packed day of beaches, food, volunteering and adventure, they were ready to settle into their new home and discover what Sydney had waiting for them next…

Team 8

Today we officially became Aussie icons. Our adventure began on the Metro from Kellyville to Central, where we took our first team photo, collected our lanyards and officially stepped into our urban challenge roles. We finally met our urban leaders and put our cameras in action, because no memory is complete without the capture of our photographs.

Our first clue sent us to the Rocks beginning what would be a full day of excitement curiousity and challenge. Along the way we discored the Nurses walk, somehow ending up at Suez Canal. The cobblestones, alleyways and walking, where we were directed towards Sticky’s for our next mission. In true fashion we broke down into our official theme song Down Under to celebrate our Aussie spirit. Our performance rewarded us a well deserved sweet treat and the second clue.

We went to Foundation Point, where the furniture became our setting the scene for the shot before making our way up to Observatory Hill. Between several attempts tumbling over we positioned in our pyramid pose, decoding secret codes, we slowly were piecing together our lost memories. Then we came to the iconic red telephone box where we found clue number three. Followed by Customs House to clue number four. At this point we are suspiciously good at this detective work.

After our lunch break we caught the ferry to Barangaroo, the fresh cold breezes and glistening ocean waters taking in the views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. This sightseeing wasn’t the end. We filmed our music video I Want It That Way, which may not have been awarding winning but the moments definitely were worthwhile. Yes we got many strange looks, but you only live once.

The Title bookstore had clue number five waiting for us. By the evening we were exhausted, confused, full of stories and somehow too many photos and videos to make the blog. We had a short stop to Maccas with our refreshing slushies and ice creams. Heading back to YHA hotel in Central to make a reservation dinner at Grilld and time to relax, we were then booked for bowling.

Looking back, today was not just about finding clues or completing challenges. It was the first missing piece restored in the collection of our archive. The laughs on the trains, singing, music video, photos, landmarks and every little moment in between made us realise there is more to life than just school!!

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