Tuesday 13th July was the day the teachers and Year 6 students were patiently and anxiously waiting for. The uncertainty and constant changes to restrictions was an emotional roller coaster, but we made it! We were one of the fortunate schools to have the opportunity and privilege to attend our Year 6 camp at Phillip Island Adventure Resort.

Year 6 camp is always one of the highlights of students' primary schooling. As teachers, we were ecstatic to be able to provide this special experience for the students, particularly as we were unable to attend in 2020. It is such an amazing opportunity for students to challenge themselves, participate in unique experiences and most importantly, make lasting memories with their friends.

Camp is equally enriching for teachers as it is students. We get to observe students display a range of character strengths such as perseverance, resilience and team work. All students participated in the activities and left with a great sense of accomplishment - whether it's because they faced their fears, made new friends or just had fun.

Here are some student recounts!

Second Day Of Yr 6 Camp!

It was 7:30, Wednesday morning. My cabin: Celine, Minhtam, Karolina were told to wake up to do our duties which was setting up. It was a rough night and nobody got any sleep.

I slowly got up and walked to the bathroom to get ready while the others laid on their bed. The others eventually got up and got ready with me. While I was brushing my hair, I heard a knock on the door. Karolina opened the door and I saw Mrs McLean telling us to start heading down to set up for breakfast. We all walked down while the rain started to spit.

When I first walked in, all the tables and chairs were set up very nicely and the food smelt amazing. Minhtam and I put all the cups on the tables while Celine and Karolina placed the knives and orange juice. After we were all done we went back to our cabin and cleaned it up. At 8:00am year 6’s and the teachers start to call everyone down for breakfast.

Before coming in, all the girls were told to sanitize their hands. We got to sit next to our friends as well as people that we don’t normally talk to. The boys started to enter the room and filled in the empty spaces. On the table was some orange juice which I poured out to everyone on the table. It was time to choose our food. There was toast and cereal. I decided to choose toast with butter and it was delicious. Breakfast was really fun and it felt really nice to be able to communicate with other students I don’t normally talk to.

At 9:00, everyone met at the function room to start out activities. I was in group 2 that had giant swing first up. I was extremely scared to go on the giant swing as we walk to it. The rain starts to spit as I stand and wait for my turn.

Elly 5/6N

Year 6 camp

After the second term break I went to camp with the year 6s and the teachers. We went to Phillip Island Adventure Resort. I stayed there for 3 days and 2 nights with my friends.

When I first arrived at Phillip Island Adventure Resort we went to the main room called the function room and were taught about the camp areas and rules. After that we settled in our cabins for a while, then went to do our rotations. The rotations lasted an hour and there were four rotations consisting of: twin flying fox, low ropes, giant swing and archery. At night we had campfire cooking, we cooked marshmallows.

The next day was Wednesday and I started off with breakfast, eating cereal and then attending my rotation. After my rotations, we had afternoon tea and then lunch. For lunch we had potatoes with toppings. Later we had dinner, followed by trivia which lasted a while.

On Thursday we had new rotations: swimming spa, camp cooking, circatron and initiative course. Together the rotations lasted for 5 hours. After that time we had lunch and dinner as usual, however we watched a movie called Luca.

After that it was Friday and SJV were about to depart for school. Before that we had breakfast while finishing Luca and watching Home Alone.

During the time I went to camp I really enjoyed it and would go again if I had the opportunity.

Jimmy 5/6IT

Year 6 Camp

We left for camp on Tuesday morning. At 9:30 am we left to go onto the bus . After about an hour we stopped and watched pelicans get fed at San Remo. We also stopped to play at a playground and have snacks. It was a long drive there, but when we got there we got our bags and had some time to unpack and settle down in our cabins. After that we did our first activity. Our first activity was low ropes.it was an obstacle course where we had a partner that helped us along the way. After that we roasted marshmallows in a campfire. After that we went to get ready for bed and go to sleep.

The next day was Wednesday and at 9:00 our group had our second activity .Our second activity was the giant swing.it was a big swing that was 16 meters high. Next we had the twin flying fox.it was a huge flying fox that two people went down at the same time. After the twin flying fox, we had archery. I learnt how to use a bow and arrow and how to aim. I also learned that you have to use a sleeve to keep your arm protected. Then after our group had finished our activities we went back to our cabins for 45 minutes.T hen after dinner we had a trivia night .we also got popcorn and hot chocolate and then went to bed.

On the third day, we did most of our activities. First was the initiative course were we had do get through challenges with other people. The next activity was the swim spa, I didn't do the swim spa so I made pancakes instead for camp cooking. But we didn't get to do camp cooking so we had a choice to play volleyball or archery. I did volleyball. Later that day after free time we walked over to a different place to do cicirtron. The circuitron is three circles that spin in all different directions. Then we had an hour of free time after when we got settled into our cabins we got some news that we were going to go into lockdown again and we had to go home a bit early which meant we had to miss out on going to A Maze’n things. We had a movie night on that night so we watched Luca.

Arielle 5/6M

Year 6 Camp

After a long bus ride, a stop to watch pelicans getting fed and another stop at a farm, we finally arrived at the campsite. As we eagerly walked into the hall, we were greeted by the staff, Holly and JP, who discussed the ground rules to us and soon, we were off to our cabins. 45 minutes later we were ready for our 1st activity … archery. It was super challenging but also really fun and before we knew it, dinner was ready. Straight after dinner, we were at a campfire to roast marshmallows and sing songs.

The next day, we woke up eagerly and got ready for our next activity which was low ropes. Low ropes is like an obstacle course and it’s really hard! The next activity was the GIANT SWING. Although the 16-meter high swing looked scary, It was really fun. After lunch, we went to the flying fox which also looked scary but fun. We finished dinner, dessert and we also had a mini liturgy. But before we went to bed, we had a trivia.

On the 3rd day, we had our breakfast, got ready and went to our activity as usual. Our activity was circotron. The circotron made us swing from side to side and made us do 360-degree flips. It made me feel a little dizzy. Our next activity was the Initiative course where we did fun teamwork obstacles. Straight after lunch was the swim spa. We played with a ball the whole time. Our last activity was to make some delicious pancakes. After dinner, We got the sad news that we couldn’t go to amaze’n things due to the lockdown. But luckily we watched the Movie Luca that took our minds off it. Even though we had been here for 3 days, it felt like just yesterday we arrived there. We packed our bags and soon, we were back at school. We had a fun time and made a lot of memories but for now, our camp experience has come to an end.

Taneesha 5/6LF

St John Vianney's Newsletter

'St John Vianney's school Community Is Committed To The Victorian Child Safe Standards'

Issue 11 · 21 Jul 2021

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