This week we had quite a few changes to our planned program due to a few injuries and absences, however we still managed to have a lot of fun and do most of the activities planned! Wednesday started off with writing school goals and preparing for camp. The students all selected a number of school goals and personal goals to focus on throughout the term. We use this goals as a focus point at various times throughout the term, particularly when we visit students in school fortnightly. After this we got out all the camp equipment, including tents, sleeping mats, trangias etc. After all this was done we headed out for a bike ride along the Yarra river towards the city. It’s a lovely ride from Ri
We started off our Yarra program undertaking a heap of introductory activities at Yarra Youth Services (YYS). We played a few different games to help the students get to know each other, as well as forming the group code of conduct. The students voted on what values were most important to them to form our group agreement for the term. The chosen values were honesty, respect, communication, trust and organisation. YYS will be our base for most of this term, with us undertaking activities here nearly every week, as well as holding the graduation ceremony at the end of the term. We headed off after lunch to the Collingwood Leisure Centre for a swim as it was a really hot day. After a tour of th
Welcome back to the Operation Newstart blog for 2017. We're excited to be running another four Newstart programs this year and we've been busy planning to make it a great year. Amongst lots of meetings, planning and interviewing students, Jane was fortunate to be able to attend the Hume Community Grants Presentation Night in Craigieburn. Hume City Council have been a huge supporter of the program, providing us with funding to run the program over the last few years. We are really grateful for this support and attending the evening was a wonderful way to learn about some of the many other community organisations the council supports. We won't be spending a lot of time over in Hume until secon
