This edition of our newsletter I am going to let some Year 9 students update the school community on the amazingly successful experience we shared during the Year 9 camp.

Mrs Maggie Frawley
Year 9 Coordinator

Year nine camp, what can we say?

It was amazing the first day with all the things to do and all the people that we met and all the new friends I made.

One of the best things about camp was seeing a different side to the teachers, our friends and all the new people we got to know and be with.      

There was a lot of things that I liked about it! Mainly how I got to hang with my friends during the activities, meeting new people and making new friends as well.

My favourite activity was canoeing. My favourite bit about Canoeing was when we tried to fit everyone on the Canoe and break the other group's record, which was 14, but we only managed to fit 8 people before it sank or flipped.

Serving other people their food was also fun as I made jokes with the others as we served the students their food. I destroyed the chocolate cakes a lot.

They were an amazing couple of days and they were a lot of fun it was different but an amazing experience and I don’t think that we're going to forget this in a hurry.

  Millie Thulin and Izabella Wilke

The Year 9 camp of 2019 was an extremely enjoyable experience it was a good mix of challenging activities and group-bonding/team-building activities. For example I had never abseiled in my life but with some help and thorough explanation from the Year 10 bushcraft students. And then there were activities like ‘Trust Me’ which stirred up a lot of excitement and gossip. But it also helped us learn more about ourselves as young adults and as a team of Year 9 students.

The food was delicious whether it was Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner it was still delicious nevertheless. The dance at the camp was an interesting activity and definitely showed off some people's dancing prowess particularly Mr Chard.

The mass was also a very spiritually enlightening time and was very calming. It also linked us with our faith on camp. All and all the Year 9 camp of 2019 was a wonderful experience for all (even though my tent split down the middle after an hour of it being put up). But as I was saying before I thought that the camp was great and so did most of our year group. I have had so many great memories from camp.

Massimo Copeta

Year 9 camp was one of the best camps we have ever been on. Not only did we enjoy hanging out with our friends 24/7 but also creating new bonds and trying new experiences. Some of the highlights of  this camp were: the activities with the Year 10s, Mr Mckinnon’s camp song which featured some interesting facts, building stronger relationships with friends and teachers, stepping out of our comfort zones with new skills such as abseiling, playing sport with everyone during the brakes, the Ash Wednesday liturgy and the camp dance. Mr Gould’s song got stuck in everyone's head but it was so much fun to be a part of.

And remembering to always zip up your tent properly so as not to have any unwanted guests visit in the middle of the night. After 3 days and 2 nights we were all worn out and tired and the bus ride home provided time for people to catch up on sleep if they needed it.

Coming back from this camp we both feel as though we are more of a community as a year group and have created memories we will never forget. This camp would not have been as amazing without all the teachers and Year 10 students that worked so hard to make this camp so much fun. We are looking forward to our Year 12 retreat and can’t wait to see what the future holds for our year group!  

Rommey Hazell and Milla Watts

We thoroughly enjoyed the camp for many reasons, one for which we got to experience things we wouldn't usually encounter on a day to day basis such as swimming, canoeing, bush walking, abseiling, building a raft and trust exercises. During team building exercises got to know each other better and form new friendships. The days were hot and sunny which made the wet activities a highlight of the day and not to mention the food for every meal was AMAZING.

The most amazing part of the camp though was definitely Mr Gould's singing and Mr McKinnon's song at the talent show.   

Darci Edwards and Allyx Cornelius

Camp was fun, exciting and challenging. I really liked doing abseiling and canoeing, they were the fun activities. The dance contest was amazing and funny, and I really got to pull out my moves!

I enjoyed Mr McKinnon's song, it was really funny. Cheers for a great camp, to all the teachers who helped and the Year 10 Bushcraft students.

Jack Weber

We all arrived at school with great enthusiasm and very heavy bags to start our adventure in the bush. The rough bus trip was the exciting beginning to the next 3 days, and we arrived at Coolendel with the sunshine and a lot of happy faces. The activities ranged from canoeing down the river, bushwalking up a mountain, abseiling down a cliff face and a trusting activity.

We also had to build rafts and get it over the river and back without it falling apart, which proved easier to say than to do, with my group not only struggling to get across but to stay afloat! We also had the wonderful Mel and Jarrah to host our talent show which showcased the grades of many talents. Then as we packed up our tents we realized that the camp was coming to an end, we reminisced on our good times and the encounters with some goannas. Now as we return to our classes, our memories of our Year 9 camp will stay with us for a lifetime.

Maddy Speer

We went out to Coolendel, the bus ride was a little rough but loads of fun. We started our activities and first up was the bush walk, which was very challenging but worth it when you got to the top. Next, we faced a near death experience in abseiling which was great fun and we really challenged ourselves.

That night we joined together as a year group and celebrated Ash Wednesday with a liturgy. After that, we had a great time dancing and learning Mr. Gould’s song which we still remember (‘We’re all going up to sunshine mountain,faces all are glowing). After our “great sleep”, the next day we had water activities swimming, rafting, and canoeing which we really enjoyed and learnt how to work as a team.

Later that night we had Mel and Jarrah host our talent show which we all laughed and had a great time, and sung our Year 9 camp song. Sadly it had come to the last day of camp when we finished off with trust me and that I should keep a secret.

Brydie Maddinson, Riley and Chloe