Nillumbik Term 4 Week 1 2025

Hello everyone and welcome to our first blog post! This is where you can keep up to date on the program activities and photos throughout the term!

We started our day at Nillumbik Youth Hub where we played some ice breaker games to get to know each other better. We then learnt a bit about the youth space from Nate who informed students on different programs they run and how they can get involved. Youth spaces like the Nillumbik Youth Hub are a wonderful way for young people to connect with each other and the community and will be a space for us to use throughout the program! We ended our session with a lesson on values where we determined our group values for the term. We then headed off to Eltham leisure centre where we met with Brad who would be joining the group each Wednesday. After a tour and introduction to the centre we ended our day with some free time in the gym!

On Thursday we headed off to Sherbrooke Forest for our first outdoor activity of the term. Students were given paint samples and asked to find natural elements that match the colour of their sample, the group with the closets match wins! During this challenge we had a beautiful walk through the forest, getting to know everyone and looking out for kookaburras. Majai and Charlie were our game winners with almost six perfect matches! Following our walk we made our way to Belgrave trees adventure. After a safety briefing students picked a course and headed off into the trees. Some students chose courses with lots of zip lines while others braved a 15metre drop! Students recognised which character strengths they utilised most during this activity during our end of day reflection, with bravery and perseverance being the main strengths.

On Friday we based ourselves at Eltham Leisure centre where we completed some work on character strengths and students goal sheets for the term. Students completed the VIA character strength survey where they found out their top 5 strengths. Following this we headed to a park for some lunch and returned to the centre to complete a swim assessment.

Micaela our placement student interview Julian this week,

What was your favourite activity and what’s one character strength you used?

“Tree surfing and bravery”.

Julian did an awesome job, tackling his fear of heights during tree surfing, completing a difficult course he was initially nervous about and nailing it, well done Julian!

Overall we had an awesome first week on Newstart, students showed great participation and a positive attitude each day. We are gearing up for our first camp this week so stay tuned for that blog to come!