Emu Chronicle – 13 August 2021

Middle School Camp

A sigh of relief was felt from students and staff as we finally disembarked for our Term 1 middle school camp, which really took place during Term 3 but we will try not to mention that. A buzz of positive energy was felt in the bus as we made our way to Redland Bay.

Upon arrival our clean, smiling, energetic and excited PBC students were greeted by Laura and Venessa, our camp leaders for the next four days. Students were quickly assigned cabin and day groups and in no time, we were sent off to our first of many activities. Students experienced things such as the giant swing, leap of faith, ropes courses, bush craft exercises, raft building, canoeing, and abseiling. These activities encouraged students to develop skills of inclusivity, teamwork, communication, resilience, and self-reflection.

It is fair to say that all students were absolutely exhausted by night one and everyone slept like a log (except for Mr. Green who had the pleasure of listening to Mr. Cahalan’s snoring). By day two, students and staff were well into the swing of things and our activity day groups began to form a new sense of comradery as we began to feel more comfortable in our surroundings. After our day’s activities, we enjoyed sharing stories about our recent adventures over dinner and then around a campfire.

To celebrate day three and the end of our time at camp, a disco was organised, this allowed all students to have a boogie and do plenty of socialising. In addition to this, about half of the students relocated to a new area of the grounds for a teacher/student campout. After the disco, students sat around the campfire, shared stories, and played some campfire games.

Dreary eyes greeted us on the final morning, and it was not long until home. The bus was eagerly awaited by all students, however, this time with dirty, tired, sometimes smelly but none the less still smiling PBC students. Chants and cheers bellowed through the bus as PBC was back in sight. All in all, we had a very successful camp which included the forming of new friendships, overcoming personal fears and barriers and the acquisition of new and important life experiences, that we will hopefully remember for a lifetime.

There were a lot of fierce competitors in the Year 1 Potato Olympics (lockdown style). Our coaches worked extremely hard to make sure their potato athletes were up for the challenges put before them. Athletes competed in 4 gruelling events.

1. Distance – Rolling down a ramp and using handspans to measure the distance travelled.
2. Diving – Dropping athlete from a height of 1 metre into a pool of water.
3. Dance – Athletes took to the dance floor to determine who could spin the longest.
4. Shot put – Athletes were catapulted through the air.

While I can confirm that many athletes lost multiple body parts, it is pleasing to hear that they all are recovering well.

During our class activities in Week 1, Samson from 8R created this awesome artwork with his code. Experimentation can create some amazing results, we loved how this looked like an artwork and was made by coding!