Moreland Term 2 Week 7

G'day everyone!

This week we went on our very last camp of the program. We picked the students up from Collingwood Station and then went back to CAS to pack the rest of the gear and have a discussion about the camp and what to expect. We asked the students to think about an individual character strength goal they would like to focus on for this camp and we relayed the expectations, given they are assessed on areas such as self-organisation, team work, leadership, participation and behaviour. We packed the bus and off we went to the Rubicon Outdoor Education School in Thornton. On arrival we were greeted by the Rubicon staff and then shown to our awesome accommodation. For the afternoon we went on a mountain bike ride along the trails of Rubicon River, led by Kate and Mark. We had such a great time and the students did a wonderful job at persisting when they found it challenging especially given the conditions. Everyone loved getting dirty and playing in the puddles which was a lot of fun. We had hot showers back at the accommodation and some downtime before dinner was served by the amazing chef. For the evening we played some cards and hung out all together in the common areas. We were surprised with some great news that we were going cross country skiing the following day, therefore we spent some time organising our gear for the snow. For our debrief session the young people were asked about their character strength goal and how they used it that day and how it will be beneficial to take that goal back into school or in other areas of their lives. They were also asked to review one of their peers and give examples of how that person showed certain strengths over the day. They managed to do well in this session given that they were tired and ready to go to sleep!

On Friday morning, we packed up our bedrooms and made our way to the kitchen to have breaky. We then prepared our sandwiches for lunch and packed snacks and fruit for our trip. After cleaning the accommodation, we made our way to Lake Mountain! The snow was absolutely unreal and we felt so lucky to be up there at such a special time of year. We had our leaders - Mark, Tim and Lochie introduce to the group the fundamentals of cross country skiing and then off we went! The conditions were perfect and the snow was so beautiful. The young people were in awe and loved every single moment. They all did fantastic at navigating the ski course using perseverance and zest. There were many wipe-outs but that was all part of the fun! They all had learnt a new skill and showed the staff that they were very capable. Before heading off the snow, we of course had to participate in a snowball fight and build snowmen! Back in Marysville we thanked the Rubicon staff for taking us and we had a debrief session, focusing on a new character strength that presented that day and acknowledging someone who impacted them positively. The feedback about the camp was successful and a great last camp for the program :)