Grade 4 2016 Camp at Mt Evelyn Recreation Camp

There was a great buzz and loads of excitement on the morning of the Grade 4 camp. There were a few nerves (among the parents!) but mostly the sense of adventure was in the air. There were 64 participants with 6 supervising teachers (Faye, Atty, Mun Wei, Con, Paul and Marjie). A special mention goes to Brendan, Elise and Michael (CRT) who held down the fort and delivered a purposeful learning program to our envious Grade 3s.

The Mount Evelyn YMCA camp was a fantastic venue for our first off-site Grade 4 camp. It was highly resourced with engaging and stimulating challenges for the students and the staff were knowledgeable and supportive of all the different abilities. Activities at the camp that we undertook were: Flying Fox, Hut Building, Team Initiatives, Wildlife Encounter and Low Ropes Challenge.

Throughout the day beaming smiles could be seen from both the teachers and students.  The students were great ambassadors for our school with their respectful, cooperative and courteous behaviour towards the camp staff, teachers and particularly amongst themselves. The students supported and encouraged each other, whether on the Flying Fox, throwing a boomerang or even cleaning up after meals.

In the evening, we sat around the campfire to listen to the stories of Murrindindi, an elder of the Wurundjeri  people. He demonstrated and showed the students how to throw a boomerang and entranced us with his stories of his family and his culture. We thanked him with a rendition of the Aboriginal song ‘Innanay’ led by Atty. [This term, Grade 3/4 students are learning about the culture and history of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia.]

The 2016 camp was definitely a great success and will serve as a wonderful memory of life in primary school. It was a positive learning experience for many students who had never spent the night away from their families, and an eye-opening one for the teachers who saw their students outside the confines of a classroom.