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YARRA WEEK 5 TERM 2 2023

Good morning everyone!


Yup, another week down, and here is the weekly breakdown for you :-)


On Wednesday the 31st the crew was collected for some community service down at the Collingwood Children’s Farm. We began with a self-directed tour of the grounds seeing the variety of animals and plants they take care of at the Farm, even having time to greet and interact with some goats and a cat along the way. After our look around we went straight to work, scraping, sanding and oiling a table made for the gardens. We worked as a team and assessed our first part of the work, talking about the pros and cons of our job. After some detailing of how to change our approach for a better result we completed another section of the table and we’re impressed with our work. Though these skills are more directed at wood working and construction, they are highly transferable. The act of opening, sanding and oiling the wood is a skill many people utilise later in life when fixing or creating pieces in or for their homes. While the debriefing, evaluation and assessment of one's work is a skill we use in everyday life, and a skill we try to instil for work and education. After this session we handed back our tools and began our lunch break, thanking the crew, Sicily and Nee (apologise for spelling mistakes), who front the community connection and volunteering sessions we take part in. After our break we headed off to the Gym, where we met with Mark, a trainer at the Richmond Recreation Centre. Guiding us through our session, we tried a variety of workouts and even went to experience some exercises we were eager to try. After thanking Mark for all his help we finished for the day and headed home.


On Thursday the 1st of June, we met and quickly moved to the train station, making our way towards the city centre. Arriving at Flinder Street we split into groups and began a city excursion, in the form of The Amazing Race. With 15 questions in hand of each team we began our journey of finding our answers and even spoke to information guides along the way for help. Running into each other and psyching out our opponents we worked for an hour and a half before collecting as a group for lunch. With some needing more time to eat we were a few minutes late for our next session, Rock Climbing at Hardrock CBD, but no worries as the crew were quick to learn and involve themselves in this activity. Everyone was staring in amazement at the size and complexity of every wall in the centre and took their own paths as they scaled them at their own pace. This session as well as the race are focused around Trust, Communication and Teamwork. These skills are a highlight of the program as near every session we hold in some way contributes to at least 1 of these skills. Without even one of these our ability to work with others and have confidence in our work or education is lowered, and so is an important attribute in our lives. After this physically exerting session we thanked our teacher Natasha, before heading back to collingwood station as a group.


Friday the 2nd was a very busy but enjoyable day. Collecting our crew we moved to Collingwood Alternative School and began our bike education session. To our surprise most of our crew were highly versed in most of our bike knowledge, with exception of a few technical terms here and there. Once we had explained the connection between this and our future bike donation project, we began understanding the attributes to a proper safety check. This is described as the ABCD of bike education, a collection of stages to debrief and inform new bike riders. Once performing these checks on our own bikes we grabbed all our safety gear and loaded our bikes onto a trailer. Once we finally got to the road we headed down the Yarra River Boulevard and found a parking space. When there we commenced another quick bike check to ensure no bikes had changed during the transfer via trailer. Finally on the Yarra River Trail we went single file and rode along, utilising our bells and communicating through our ride before coming across a community funded bouldering wall, also known as the Burnley Bouldering Wall. After our session the day before, our crew were eager to take part in this space, instantly setting onto the multiple walls that were presented for our community. This space is free and provides a note on what to wear and how to complete the climbs safely, as well as which are the easiest and hardest climbs. Unlike rock climbing, this bouldering wall is directed from left to right, following a singular colour trail and trying to get to the other side. While there we were able to watch some boulderers at work. With their tight specialised shoes and focused attitudes they scaled the walls and showed how much skill you can develop by applying yourself to such an activity. Spaces like these allow people of all ages to enjoy activities that aren’t necessarily easily available. They also help to develop a greater sense of community amongst differing people from a variety of backgrounds. After this impromptu bouldering session we made moves back towards the city to continue our trail. The view was beautiful as we rode through the well maintained trail, having some small chit chat along the way. Once in Fed Square we took a toilet break before heading back down the trail. With a few breaks along the way we made it back to the bouldering wall, having another climbing session before setting off back to our bus. With a quick debrief of our amazing day we set off home for the week.


This week was filled with community connect, physical health and differing experiences. Each crew member took advantage of these moments to the fullest and we truly enjoyed sharing these experiences with our crew this week.


!NOW FOR STUDENT OF THE WEEK; FEATURING BLAKE!


What was your favourite animal at the Collingwood Children’s Farm?

“The pigs, cause they were really noisy.”


What did we do at the farm as a part of our community service and why?

“We scratched, sanded and oiled a table to make it smooth, so other people could enjoy it.”


What's something you want to get out of the GYM sessions?

“Muscles, so I can get bigger.”


Where did we go in the city?

“Melbourne Central and lots of other places I can’t remember, but I really enjoyed it.”


At rock climbing what was a challenge for you?

“Belaying to help Stefan.”


On friday we did a bike ed and ride session, what was your favourite part?

“Going down the hills.”


What does the ABCD stand for and why do we need to know it?

“Air, brakes, chain, drop test, we do it as a part of a safety check.”


What was your favourite activity this week?

“City experience cause I got to walk around everywhere.”





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