Term 1 Week 6 2022
Gidday everyone!
On Wednesday morning we went to Eltham Leisure Centre to continue our workout programs Firstly, the students took turns in leading an active stretch session for a particular joint they had prepared for the week earlier and then we played a game of knockout basketball to get the heart pumping and the blood moving before going inside the gym. The young people worked on their fitness regimes for an hour, followed by a boxing session outside on the veranda led by Brad. The young people did a great job at participating and putting in their efforts! We are impressed with their determination and eagerness to workout. For the afternoon, we went back to CAS where we worked on our journals. The students completed reflections from earlier experiences including caving and the hike camp. We had a couple games of basketball and dodgeball before ending the very active day! :)
On Thursday we departed Melbourne for our Surf Camp at Bancoora Beach. We all had such an amazing time! Our surf instructor Kev met us at our accommodation and led a stretch session before heading down to the beach. That was great considering our active previous day. We then all geared up in our wetsuits, grabbed a surf board and went down to the beach. On the sand, Kev introduced us to the techniques of how to stand up on the board effectively and how to read the waves and currents. The young people did amazing on the first day! Everyone managed to catch some waves and stand up on their boards. We were very impressed with the talent in the group being able to stand up on their very first session. Great effort everyone!
After our surf lesson, we went into Torquay and had some well deserved hot chips sitting down at Cosy Corner. The students had some free time to walk around the beach and play some games. For the later afternoon, we headed to Bells Beach where we had the chance to check out Victoria's renowned surf beach and watch other surfers. We all enjoyed a walk along the beach before heading back to our accommodation.
We spent the night at the Bancoora Surf Life Saving Club. There we had a lovely BBQ for dinner (including PRAWNS - a first on ONN camp) and apple pie and ice cream for dessert (yum!) . Everyone had their roles including setting up the table, cooking and cleaning. After dinner, we played some pool games and enjoyed each others company. Brendon and I conducted individual midterm interviews with the young people in the evening. Students were asked about what they are enjoying about the program, what they are learning about themselves and what skills they are able to take back into school to help with their goals. They also received feedback from us. This was all positive and the young people's interaction with the conversations went very well. It was not long after that we all retired to bed as all of us were exhausted!
The next morning our surf instructor Kev came to the club and he led another great stretching session on the beach before we got in the water which was definitely needed. This day was a little more challenging based on the water conditions... but the young people did an incredible job! They pushed right through it and had a great time out on the boards! Brendon and I were really impressed with the students' attitudes, patience and perseverance for the surf lesson. They all gave it a good crack and enjoyed their time being in the water overall. The main focus of this camp was the 3 P's - Patience, Persistence and Participation. We added another P - Positivity because we feel this is very helpful to have in any situation. During our debrief, students identified times when they used the 3 P's and how they could transfer those skills to school. They all did a great job at contributing and making a positive connection to how they could use that particular character strength to assist them at school. We made lunch back at the club and all together we cleaned the place before leaving. We then packed the bus and made our way back to Melbourne. Everyone must have been exhausted because the bus ride home was fairly quiet, either sleeping or chilling out to the music :)
Thank you for another great week crew!
