Last week, our Year 7 and 11 students embarked on an experience of a lifetime. Every year, the 7 and 11 students go on a joint camp. This year, they went to Bornhoffen, just a short ride from our beloved TMC.
When asked why experiences such as these are positive, Mr Haskins, Year 11 and 12 coordinator said that “by the end, they had developed an understanding that they could overcome hardship and work with others to achieve goals that they thought were beyond them”. Furthermore, he says that this camp helps Year 11 students to develop independence, maturity, leadership and integrity, which are all traits senior students need as they head towards completing school. He believes that every student should take advantage of the opportunities this camp provides.
At the camp, students completed many different team building activities and participated in crucial activities for building independence and skills. For the senior students, their camp consisted of a high ropes team building exercise, followed by the beginning of an overnight hike and camp. The students started at the base of Numinbah valley, continuing towards Springbrook. After 3 hours of hiking uphill with 20-35 kg packs, everyone set up tents and settled down for the night. The final day, students hiked more than 1.5 km in length, rising over the height of the Q1 building.
For the younger students, their time at camp involved many hands-on activities including high ropes, low ropes, abseiling down rock faces, stomping through creeks and completing fun activities in the evening which were set by the Year 11 students. Mrs Garnar, Year 7 and 8 Coordinator had the wonderful opportunity of guiding the students through this camp. She says, not only did they learn new skills like high ropes and abseiling, but they also learnt to overcome their own barriers to success, teaching them mind over matter. For Mrs Garnar, her favourite parts of this camp were the memories she made. She followed up by stating that she loved witnessing the friendships and memories that the students are making at the same time.
Finally, when asked what Mr Haskins’ favourite part of the camp was, he said “The high ropes were a lot of fun and it was great to see the students achieve success. Dinner, cooked by the students on Thursday night was really tasty and it was nice to sit back whilst the students did the cooking and the dishes.”
All in all, it is wonderful to hear about the extraordinary time that the students and teachers had at camp and even more special to be able to gain insight into what type of activities and experiences the students and teachers got up to. Well done to everyone who participated in the camp for your efforts and we can’t wait to see what next year's camp brings!