Our Year 7 students enjoyed a full and busy week of activities from Monday 8 February to Friday 12 February to ensure they are set up for a smooth transition into secondary school.
Five homerooms headed to Gundiwindi Lodge in Wandin and the YMCA camp at Mt Evelyn Recreation Reserve for three days of Year 7 Camp on Monday 8 February, while the other five homerooms stayed at the College to take part in our Stepping Forward program. Then the groups swapped over on the Wednesday, ensuring all students had the opportunity to build close connections with their peers and teachers and build key foundations for a full year of learning.
The Stepping Forward program included online testing and tips for home study, author Sharon Witt (pictured in the gallery) was guest speaker on the topic ‘Surviving High School’, students received their Chromebooks and learnt about cyber safety, the Careers team discussed individual learning styles, the Counsellors workshopped ideas about friendships and settling in, students again visited the Library and they also visited our Chapel (pictured in the second image gallery below) where they learnt about our Mercy heritage and the story of Catherine McAuley.
Below are some student reflections on the Year 7 camp:
I enjoyed camp because there were lots of different activities to do that got you thinking, exercising, and most importantly having fun. My group did the flying fox on the first day and we had to each talk about the 'something special' we brought along. We did more activities including initiatives, giant swing and banner making. My favourite activity was the giant swing because the adrenaline makes it feel exciting. There were also other things like night walks and trivia. My favourite part of camp was meeting new friends and hanging out with the animals. Camp was really fun!
— Alyssa Olszewski (7 Orange)
Gundiwindi Lodge, Wandin (Monday-Wednesday)
Camp was all about team building, making new friends and getting to know your class. And it definitely worked. I made new friends, got to know the people in my class, a lot better, and even got over some of my fears. My group (the Green Grizzlies) were super supportive to everyone and always made me laugh. To accomplish most of the activities you also had to use teamwork and strategy, while relying on and trusting your teammates. We laughed every time we got it wrong and tried again. I liked the giant swing because it was fun and an adrenaline rush. I liked initiatives because it was all about team building. For me camp was pretty darn good.
— Lily Cochrane (7 Green)
Gundiwindi Lodge (Wednesday-Friday)
Camp has given me the opportunity to get to know my peers and teachers a little more and at the same time experience what school camp is like, as unfortunately due to COVID-19 my Grade 6 camp did not go ahead. Year 7 Camp was an amazing, unforgettable experience. We were given the opportunity to do lots of fun activities such as crate stack, giant swing, low ropes, high ropes and we even got to make the class banner. I thought the giant swing was going to be the scariest, least-fun activity, but it turned out to be the best one. I did things I never thought I’d be able to do. The memories I had will last forever.
— Lara Mhanna (7 Gold)
Mt Evelyn (Monday-Wednesday)
We did lots of marvellous activities on the three days, including night walks, crate stack, high and low ropes courses, hut building and initiatives, but my personal favourite was the giant swing. Everyone else helped pull you to the top, or as high as you wanted. Then you would pull a rope and fly through the sky with the fresh air in your face. I made lots of new friends. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done.
— Sete Tevi (7 Bronze)
Mt Evelyn (Wednesday-Friday)
The activities we did were the giant swing, the flying fox, cooking damper, archery, ‘something special’ activity circle and the low ropes course. My favourite was the flying fox because it was fun to take a leap and be taken out of your comfort zone. We were also able to spend time jumping on the trampoline, playing volleyball with friends and peer support or visit the animals. I really enjoyed camp, I made new friends and had so much fun.
— Aiden Thomas (7 Green)
Gundiwindi Lodge (Wednesday-Friday)
Bronze, Silver and Jade went to the Mt Evelyn camp. The activities we did were crate stacking, giant swing, hut building, making a banner, low ropes, high ropes and initiatives. My personal favourite would have to be the giant swing, which was 18 metres high! All the staff were very nice and the lunches were delicious. We all had a great time and were laughing at the end of the initiatives activity. This camp was great fun and I would give it a 10 out of 10.
— Alannah Finn (7 Bronze)
Mt Evelyn (Wednesday-Friday)
