14 Nov 2018
It was a wet and miserable morning on Tuesday the 6th November as 65 Year 9 students gathered in the school hall in order to depart for Howman’s Gap at Falls Creek. It did not seem like a good omen as the rain continued for the whole trip and for the first day of camp.
The wet weather, however, did not put a damper on the students’ spirits and as soon as we arrived and settled into camp we were straight into our first activities. Over the next few days students would participate in archery, orienteering, bush cooking, the challenge trail, canoeing and the much anticipated giant swing, abseiling and high ropes courses. Students amazed the staff with their willingness to challenge themselves and cheer for their peers.
Particularly impressive were all the students who were terrified of heights, who were still willing to attempt most of the activities and managed to better themselves each attempt.
Evenings saw us participate in activities such as the amazing race, in which groups of students had to work together to complete challenges and visit stops around the world, collecting stamps on their passports. On another night we had high stakes trivia. The winning team of which was eventually decided by a ‘rock-off’ after two teams ended the rounds with the same score. This resulted in the winning team being served breakfast by the losing team.
Friday saw 65 students and 7 exhausted staff file back into the buses for a trip home to Deni. Teachers and staff of Howman’s Gap were all impressed by the outstanding behaviour of the group and their modelling of the school values. It was an absolute pleasure to take this bunch of kids away and I look forward to our Year 10 trip already!
Miss Burton