The peace and quiet of the Fiordland National Park was significantly disturbed over the past two weeks with the chatted of energetic year 9s as they overcame challenges, made new connections and took on a few secret missions.
The year 9 cohort was broken into two groups and had the excitement of five days at Te Anau Downs.
The focus for the early year 9 camp is to provide the opportunity and experience for students to:
Develop relationships with each other
Develop a positive culture within the year group
Experience activities that will require resilience and teamwork
With this being the mission for the week, we set about our work the minute we reached 'The Downs'.
In small groups, the boys undertook a variety of adventure-based learning challenges - or 'Missions'. Led capably by one of the six year 13 students attending each camp, the boys were challenged to use their communication skills, problem-solving, and teamwork to solve each task. Some blindfolded, with the risk of being splashed by the toxic waste or blown up - fortunately, they all survived!
The boys undertook a three-day rotation across three activities. Two endurance-based challenges and one that was a little more relaxing.
The hike saw the boys enter the forest at The Divide, and after making their way to the old site of Lake Howden Hut, they split into smaller groups and set about their navigation challenge. Both destinations lead the boys through the bush on unmarked trails, requiring teamwork, resilience and a lot of common sense. Over 12km were covered, finding their way back to the vans.
The bike started at Lake Manapouri and took the boys through a grade 2 trail to Lake Te Anau. The students were challenged to work in support of each other to ride the 30km, which, for many, was a Personal Best distance. Kudos to the teachers and parents who completed this three times!
The aquatics day was filled with fun in the sun. Fishing, boating, kayaking skills and a little bit of bivvy building. This served as a good balance to the two endurance days for the students.
Each night, the boys undertook another 'mission'! These were devised to keep building their teamwork, communication and problem-solving skills. I would give more detail but these missions were...well, secret!
The final challenge for the week was clean-up and service. The boys achieved a 10/10 mark for their efforts and have mastered vacuuming, bathroom cleaning and making beds. Please feel free to keep building on these skills by having the boys complete these tasks at home. Mrs Smith said so!
A huge thank you to all the parents who supported us over the two weeks. It is a busy time, and your contribution to the activities (and the food) and the general culture of the camp is very much appreciated.
We are grateful to the 12 year 13 students who took a break from their studies to guide, mentor and lead the boys over the week. Your contribution to the camp can not be understated and is a very special part of Year 9 camp. Inspired by you, I have already had many requests from our current Year 9s to 'come back to camp as a senior.'
A special thank you to Jonny Leitch for compiling the video of Camp Two below.
Looks like it is: Mission Complete!
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