Year 7 Grampians Bush Camp

A huge thank you to Beaufort & District Op Shop (35 Neill Street, Beaufort) for their generous donation to assist our students in attending camps! These camps are a fantastic opportunity for students to learn new skills, have adventures in new and interesting places, and spend time together in a relaxed environment outside of the classroom. This year, camps were postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, however we are fortunate to be able to offer these for Years 7-9 during Term 4.

The Year 7 Grampians Bush Camp was originally booked to start on the day Victoria went into its first COVID lockdown. Understandably, we had a number of disappointed Year 7 students. Fortunately, in the final hours of 2020, we managed to get the Year 7 students to their well-deserved camp.

Over the course of the three days, students had the opportunity to rock climb and abseil, complete some (very) high ropes challenges, and either canoe or mountain bike. On the first night we had a Trivia Night, and on the second night we had a complete black-out. We took full advantage of the darkness to play a modified version of the popular internet game “Among Us”, with crewmates being tagged in the dark by an imposter, and then students guessing who the imposter was. Students had the opportunity to buy a famous Hall’s Gap ice-cream and swim in the on-site pool. Unfortunately, due to severe winds the Pinnacle walk was cancelled, however the team-building activities kept minds and bodies occupied. On the final day, students visited the Halls Gap Zoo and enjoyed the freedom of walking around the zoo with their friends, and interacting with the animals.

Overall, all students were courageous in the face of challenge, adaptable to change, and well-behaved during their stay. The staff at Norval were impressed by the students’ good humour, willingness to participate, and respectful demeanour. Well done, Year 7’s!

Thank you to Mr Lindorff, Mrs Ham, and Chappy for attending the camp, and it was terrific to have a visit by Ms McGinty on the Tuesday and Mr Schier on the Wednesday, at the zoo. Thank you to Ms Vernon who went to great effort to organise the original camp.