Recreation News
Our weekends have been jam-packed in Term One with a bustling Recreation program! We have created an engaging schedule which gives each of our boarding houses opportunities to explore, create, adventure, bond and experience our incredible surroundings over the weekend.
It’s been positive to see many of our boarders opting to stay in over the weekend to participate in the Rec activities. We see friendships develop between boarders through these smaller adventures, whilst also strengthening rapport between boarders and supervisors as they share experiences off-campus.
Fishing trips have been a highlight for our junior houses in Term One, as they’ve gained skills in rig-making before heading to our local spots: the Lower King Bridge and the Albany Town Jetty. Many have enjoyed tasting their catches afterwards, as our Chefs have helped to crumb some bream fillets!
We have capitalised on the great weather Albany has seen with countless beach trips to Nanarup and Gull Rock with our senior boarders. There has been impressive surfing and body-boarding skills on display, it has been positive this term to see these skills and confidence grow amongst our seniors, particularly with the experienced guidance in the water from Mr Sam Forward.
Our boarders have kept the energy and adrenalin high with an evening trip to the Albany Speedway for the JSRA Juniors race, and have created their own weekend challenges mountain biking at the Youth Challenge Park and Mount Clarence.
Many of our junior and senior boarders have also enjoyed relaxing day trips to Denmark, taking in the scenery of our local surroundings with a delicious treat from the Denmark Bakery! Movie nights throughout all houses has been a popular relaxing activity after a day of activity. A big event for our Taylor Swift fans in Endeavour and Breaksea was the release of The Eras Tour movie! A weekend of bracelet-making, sparkling outfits and sing-alongs was a great way to join in the spectacle of this world-wide event from Albany.
By utilising the different facilities between our boarding houses on weekends, there has been a noticeable increase in activity between senior and junior houses, building on a culture of inclusion and comfort. It’s been fantastic to see this weekend integration continue throughout weekdays, particularly in Eclipse. We have an eager team of pool players from Breaksea visiting their neighbours during the week, and Anchorage boys have enjoyed using the basketball court playing collaboratively with the senior boys as well.
The Easter Egg Challenge attracted many of our sleuths and sweet tooths – within teams our boarders searched for a string of hidden clues throughout campus in a race to the finish line! There was an impressive display of problem solving, teamwork and knowledge of our campus on display. Congratulations to our two winning teams from Endeavour House! And hats off to Craig Weich and Harry Newfield who completed ten teams’ worth of the Challenge in two hours and two seconds, and Fraser King, Nicholas Hams and Billy Hams who strategised to tackle the same challenge in one hour and 22 minutes!
Each boarding house was involved in a ‘Secret Rec’ in the last weekend of Term One, which involved an opportunity to show gratitude to their Head of House and their family. It was great to see each house display enthusiasm and thoughtfulness in preparing a fresh batch of brownies with a note of thanks to their Head of House, ending a term which has been full of activity, and adding to a positive culture within their Boarding home.
Thank you to all boarders for engaging in Rec and bringing that endless energy to our Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. We’re excited to continue to offer unique, interactive and fun activities next term! There have been some great Rec suggestions coming from our Boarders which we’ll continue to integrate throughout the year.
Thank you also to our weekend Supervisors who enable these activities with their energy, qualifications, skills and guidance.
Ms Carter Wight | Recreation Officer