CAREERS

Edmund Rice Centre & Camps

On the 24th of November in 2021, the Year 9 students at Brookside College had the exciting opportunity to visit the Edmund Rice Centre & Camps in Lower Plenty to experience various activities centred on the theme of leadership. The Edmund Rice Centre: “Amberley” is a retreat and conference venue originally built in the late 1920’s as a private residence. It has since expanded to operate as a camp venue, catering for school, church, and community groups.

Despite only spending a single school day at Amberley, the students got to participate in the Experiential Learning Block by splitting into their classes and engaging in the fun activities. Some of the activities included: Group Persistence & Trial and Error activities to build resilience; the River Walk & Indigenous Cultural Learning Session to encourage mindfulness and reflection; and the Leadership & Values Reflection to encourage the students to put everything they had experienced together.

Each activity provided the students with a different aspect of teamwork and leadership, being given a space to consider their own personal strengths and what they have learnt about themselves as leaders. They were encouraged to reflect on leadership values and what these values look like in practice and how they demonstrated this through their actions. As the students slowly made their way towards the end of Term 4, it was pleasing to see them have one last chance to continue to build and strengthen the bonds within the cohort during their final few weeks at Brookside College.