Heatherton Christian Collage Year 7 and 8 Blog

On Monday afternoon, the year 8 students of Heatherton Christian College rolled through The Summit gates. They were then shown to their accommodation where they had lunch.

They were then quickly welcomed by The Summit staff with Steph/Spinks leading the way, Quickly the students were taught about the Five Keys to making a successful camp (Have Fun, Play All In, Make Lots of Mistakes, Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable, Don’t Go Home Wondering ‘What If’), students then played a game of ‘GOCHA’ and then they started their first initiative followed by their first two rotations of camp; Flying Fox and Snowy River Challenge, where the Happy Campers prevailed over the Arbuckle’s by 1min and 15 seconds.

Both teams learned about the goal-setting strategy called ‘Target, Stretch and Super Stretch’, to help them break down activities that may be overwhelming. The two teams also got to choose a group name and they came up with; Arbuckle’s and Happy Campers. The day came to a close by telling the groups about GMICs, free time spaces and dinner.

Day two and both teams were eager to get started, the program started with a morning intensions session after breakfast, where the students learned the value of choosing what their day was going to look like, and who they wanted to be. We played a game of Shoe Bowling before getting the activities underway. The teams had four rotations to complete; Snake and Nails, High Wire, Rock Wall, and Scavenger Hunt.

Day three and the year 8s had two rotations left before they were about to be joined by the year 7s for lunch. Lots of stretches and super stretches were being achieved, students right out of their comfort zones and choosing to find the fun, whilst playing all in. The groups smashed out The Summit Window and Abseiling down the big tower which is 18m tall! Lunchtime rolled around and the year 7s had just arrived and started to get settled, the year 8s made them feel welcomed and right at home straight away. The two groups became four and the year 8s and 7s were combined! Forming a new group meant new team names and values, they became; Eggs, Pablo’s, Flame-ingos and Burnt Omelettes. The four teams and two more new activities to run (Giant Swing, Sky Bridge, Bush Challenge and Inflatables). The last thing on the program was the tribe identity session where the groups got to build a flag that represents their teams. They got given one of the Five Keys to focus on and figure out what it meant to them, then present their flag and values to the other groups.

Day four and the teams had a BIG day ahead of them. In morning intentions, groups were again asked, who they want to be for the day and how that was going to look, with the help of Beyoncé and the video, the kids were left eager to begin their day. As the groups made their way down into the park for a game of Jockeys to change their state before the activities commenced. The groups had four rotations and then two epic laps of the Monster Course, the improvement times are as followed; Eggs- 5.20, Pablo’s- 11.30mins, Flame-ingos- 7.1mins and the Burnt Omelettes- 8mins There were new activities being run after the first two rotations; Leap of Faith, Laser Skirmish, Orienteering and Tash’s Ladder.

Day five and it’s the last day, the students checked out of their accommodation and had breakfast. The morning started off with intentions but also gratitude as they were asked what they were grateful for and or who they were grateful for as well. As the students share, you could feel the gratitude in the air, so many things they have and get to do! The teams were challenged to no checkout mentally as they still had two more activities to do before leaving The Summit.

Once the teams had done their last activity they were asked to choose a values winner, someone who embodied the Five Keys the most consistently throughout camp and has had all the fun. The values winners were: Megan, Sarah, Vikky and DJ. Well done! To reward them with their efforts, they got to take a spin in The Summit's very own army tank, while the rest of the group cheered them on!

Thank you so much for coming we had a blast and all the best for the rest of the year!

Steph/Spinks, Ella, Adam, Mim, Mesh, Logan and Sunny