Year 7 Camp
From Monday 28th to Wednesday 30th April, the Year 7 students went on a three day camp to beautiful Halls Gap and undertook a range of activities that took them out of their comfort zone, promoted their teamwork skills and were fun, including: abseiling, bushwalking, canoeing, completing a high ropes course, visiting the Halls Gap Zoo, participating in a trivia quiz, movie night and eating ice cream. The students were fantastic ambassadors for the school and were commended on their manners everywhere we went.
Student Account
On Monday the 28th of April we arrived at school ready to go to our Year 7 Camp. We headed off at 9:20am to Halls Gap, where we were staying at Silverband Lodge. When we arrived, we split into our activity groups and set off to start the camp activities.
Group 1 set off on the Pinnacle Walk where we saw breathtaking views and a duck rock, while Group 2 stepped out of their comfort zone and took on the challenge of abseiling. We swapped activities later in the day.
In the evening, we all got together for a trivia night hosted by Mr Wright. Some highlights of the night were; the dance moves and comedy and the teachers struggling to eat dry Weetbix.
On Tuesday, the students who qualified for Division Athletics had an early start to head off to Ballarat for the day, so they could represent the school. I was lucky enough to be in this group. A big thanks to Mr Wright for driving us all the way to Ballarat and back again to Halls Gap.
Back at camp in the morning, Group 1 completed the high ropes course, while Group 2 went canoeing. Mr Schier joined Group 2, canoeing at the beautiful Lake Bellfield. Everyone was pleased to remain dry. In the afternoon, both groups reunited for a visit to the Halls Gap Zoo. They saw some interesting animals, including Ada the snake and Amber the Quokka.
Once we were back from athletics, we all enjoyed some well-earned ice cream in Halls Gap, thanks to Mr Schier! To end the very busy day, we got to relax and have a movie night, settling down to watch Toy Story.
On Wednesday morning, the groups swapped again; Group 1 went canoeing while Group 2 tackled the high ropes course and bravely performed the Leap of Faith. This was the end of our time at Silverband Lodge.
We had lunch at the park in Halls Gap and on the way home we stopped at Alexander Park in Ararat, to stretch our legs. After using up all our energy on the playground, we departed Ararat at 2:30pm to return to school, tired but happy. We had completed our first high school camp! Thanks to Mr Wright, Megan, Mr Gawne, Mrs Thomson and Mr Schier for taking us.
- Thea Baker
Camp highlights
“Going abseiling. It was fun.” - Darcee
“I have a fear of heights, but my favourite activity was definitely the High Ropes.” - Kaylee
“Everything.” - Trinity
“Canoeing with Chayse." - Jaxen
“ Abseiling, and the bus ride to the zoo and the ice cream.” - Zoe
Something I have learnt about myself after going on camp is …
“I love High Ropes." - Joel
“Camps make people more interdependent.” - Issy
“I like High Ropes and I’m not afraid of heights anymore.” - Tama
“I’m still scared about heights, but I’m getting better.” - Darcee
“I faced my fear.” - Daniel
“I’m not held back by things” - Eleanor
“Don’t be scared.” - Thea
On the camp students were encouraged to use a range of learning behaviours called ‘Habits of Mind’. Students reflected on which ‘Habits of Mind’ learning behaviours they used back at school. These are important life-long learning behaviours that will help them both in and out of school.
On the Halls Gap Camp I used the Habit of Mind of….
“Finding humour when I was talking to my mates and at the dinner table. I also used it playing games outside.” - Jaxen
“Gathering data through all senses when we did the Leap of Faith. I had to look ahead instead of down and wait until it was quiet.” - Lia
“Persisting when I abseiled because I was scared. I also used it when we did the bush walk because my legs were hurting.” - Taylah
“Persisting. I used persistence when I set a goal to do everything on camp, and tried really hard to get through the fear and push through all of the things stopping me.” - Eleanor
“Thinking flexibly when I was navigating through the trees with Summer when canoeing.” - Trinity
“ Taking responsible risks. I took risks multiple times on camp which made camp more enjoyable. One of the risks was the log.” - Will
“Managing impulsivity when I played chess as I thought hard about the different moves my opponent and I could play each turn.” - Sam
“Striving for accuracy. When I was doing abseiling, I set my standards high and decided to do it again after I did it the first time, and do it faster. The second time I did it, I raced Joel and won.” - Eliza
