Eltham Term week 2 2018
Welcome back everyone! Week 2 is here and its a busy week of learning and self discovery for the young people.
Wednesday started off at our usual starting place at Eltham leisure centre. Here we met with Liz from headspace to talk about emotions and how they sit on our body. Through the comfort of the safe space that Liz created we were all able to share openly and reflect on what our daily thoughts are and how we can manipulate them. It was inspiring to see how open the young people were during this activity. Once this was done we got up and active with Jordan who gave us access to the gym machines. Everyone walked away a little sore, sweaty and keen for nexts week session. After a quick lunch on the bus we headed to Westerfold park to ride on the trails their near the Yarra river. We geared up, went through the A,B,C,D,E of bike safety and took off on our ride. We were lucky to have perfect weather for the ride and took advantage of this by riding until the last possible moments on the day . Overall it was a fun yet tiring day both physically and mentally.
Thursday was a special day for the young people as they got to work with the REACH Foundation and not with us at Newstart. Reach is an organisation that run two workshops in the school term for any young person aged between 10-18. Their vision is that every young person has the support and self-belief they need to fulfil their potential and dare to dream. All their workshops are 100% youth led, designed and delivered. We find that the students can relate and connect to the crew because they all speak honestly and openly about their own journey and challenges. A lot of the crew were participants in workshops, just like our students. Due to this Brendon and I aren't allowed in the session and so we don't know exactly what they get up to. All we know is that they share what they are willing to and leave with smiles on their faces.
Friday is a day full of learning as we were participating in first aid and surf life saving training. We picked up the students and headed straight to Port Melbourne Surf Life Saving Club to met Nick, our instructor. Once we said hello we dove straight into the DRS ABCD of first aid. With plastic dummies at our dispense, the knowledge in our brains and the appropriate song playing we got into physically practising CRP. It was wonderful to see how quickly the young people picked up the knowledge and skills. Before we knew it we were gearing up to head into the water to learn some surf safety tips. On this day we were blessed with great weather which made getting into the water even more enjoyable. For those of us who could get into the water we practised lying on the boards, water signals and had a race or two. For those who couldn't we did journal work and covered the water signals. We left ready for a shower and excited for next week and our first camp of the term!
