Moreland Term 2 Week 6
Hi there everyone!
On Wednesday we had an amazing young rapper named Charlie meet us at the Glenroy Community hub and he ran a hip hop workshop with the young people. The community hub has incredible recording facilities and we were lucky to also receive help from Steve from the Youth Space. Charlie introduced us to the fundamentals of hip hop and rap and then showed us how to structure a rap using the 4 beats/4 bars method. The students were encouraged to get creative and demonstrate their writing skills. It can be challenging to write a rap but everyone did an amazing job, pushing through and completing their parts. The students spent the afternoon in the recording studio doing their individual raps and all together it was produced into a full song which sounds incredible. Well done crew!
On Thursday we travelled to Britannia Creek Caves where we went caving for the day. The location is always beautiful regardless of the weather. Having had rain for the previous days, the environment was wet and fresh which added to the experience. The young people were given a safety briefing and an explanation as to why we do caving as an activity - to explore effective coping strategies when we feel nervous, how to use teamwork to help each other and 4 types of leadership styles. We geared up with our overalls, helmets and headtorches and explored the wild cave. We all courageously squeezed through tights gaps and nooks, slid down boulders, crawled through holes, treaded through water and even saw some glow worms and a freshwater cray! For some students, this was a big challenge for them but they all did an amazing job! Together, they communicated effectively, encouraged each other and displayed great leadership skills. We spoke about observing and acknowledging some of the reactions and symptoms we have when we feel anxious and nervous, including sweaty palms and increased heart rates. It is important to decipher certain coping mechanisms and use them effectively to calm us down. The students rated how anxious they were feeling before going into the caves (from 1-10 ) and were asked again half way through the cave. All students felt less anxious from when they first started which was a great sign. After the caves, we went for a walk to explore the Britannia Falls and walked through the forest and along the creek before heading back to the bus. The students had a great day!
On Friday we spent the morning learning about the ABCDE bike safety check and practicing our skills in the gym at CAS before heading out on the Yarra bike trail. The students helped pack the trailer and bus with the bikes, helmets, pumps, hi-vis vests etc. On this day we also had Georgie, a YSS social worker join us which was great. We left from St. Kevin's Boathouse (Richmond) and rode to Federation Square and back. While we were in the city we visited Hosier Lane to see the infamous street art and we went inside Culture Kings. We sat in Federation square to have our lunch before heading back. It was a cold day but the students did an amazing job to remain in high spirits, keep together as a group, respecting the rules and sustaining a good pace.
Great week team :)
