Secondary Camp - a time of friendship, fellowship and fun!
On 26 April, all of secondary travelled up to Youthwork’s Port Hacking conference centre for what was an incredible experience at secondary school camp. This provided amazing opportunities to build on existing friendships, begin and develop new relationships in an outside-of-school environment, and to take part in Christian learning and worship. Students from Year 7 all the way to Seniors got to experience a number of different activities that were both challenging and exciting.
These activities, run by Youthworks leaders, helped us to develop skills both individuals and as part of a team. These included a thrilling high ropes course, stand up paddleboarding (only for seniors), dragon boating, canoeing, water sliding, river rafting and a number of ultimately rewarding team-building exercises. Mr Bray joined us on Thursday and enjoyed the variety of activities we had, for example, the Sky Web and bush cooking.
The first night of camp brought one of the yearly highlights: Talent Night. This year’s night was “Game Show” themed, and had the prefects running the night dressed in ridiculous costumes and spinning a “Wheel of Fortune” between acts. They had students participating in quizzes about music or teachers, playing games inspired by “A Minute to Win It” or receiving free lollies on the rare “Confetti” segment of the wheel. The night showcased a wide variety of acts, and an equally wide variety of talent, with exceptional musical performances from Emily Kilby, Caleb Mackie, Nick Astill and Jacob Lawrence as weelas the hilarious skits of the Year 9 English class and Will Grootenboer’s return to the stage for “Life in a Bag”. The teachers also participated and we heard a rendition from Mrs Wilkinson as she read a funny poem, Mr Clarke & Mr West in their special duet number called “Jenny” and Mrs Stewart, Mrs Douglas, Mrs Hetherington, Mrs Edwards, Mrs Thompson, Mr Clarke & Mr West performed a song called California Dreaming.
On the second night of camp, house captains and prefects hosted the annual Games Night, which consisted of a number of games played with Sea Kings and Black Hawks going head-to-head for points in the highly competitive yearly house competition. Students got involved in games such as bullrush, dodgeball, tug-of-war and the yearly game of AM tunnel ball. The night also saw extensive house support and cheering, jamming to music and the return of ‘Sweet Caroline’.
On top of all this, students got to listen to, and engage in, a series of talks given by guest speaker Mr Ryan Heard, where he explored the authority Jesus held over the natural, spiritual and physical worlds and what our response to this should be. The ideas and concepts presented in the talks were then elaborated on and discussed further in smaller groups led by Youthworks leaders.
Secondary camp was, once again, an incredible experience for both students and teachers alike, remaining one of the definitive highlights of the school year. A big thank you especially to Mrs Wainwright and Mrs Dallimore for all of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make this amazing event happen every year; your efforts did not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Bailey Skewes, Camille Dewell, Jasmine Dickinson
School Prefects 2017
The following was placed in NCS Bytes on Friday 5 May
The feedback that we have received from some of the students indicates that they all enjoyed camp and the variety of activities that they were able to participate in eg. the high ropes course; stand up paddleboarding; dragon boating; sailing; the games night; the talent night and studies led by guest speaker, Mr Ryan Heard.
It was also a positive time for building up friendships, getting to know each other better outside the school environment.
Here are just a few quotes:
What are your camp highlights this year?
"Lots of fun with friends and teachers" (Camille)
"Learning various new skills and a bit of competition. Also, spending some time with peers outside of the school stress" (Nicholas)
What did you learn from the talks:
"That God can take on any problems and He is so strong and powerful." (Alyssa)
"I learnt primarily about Jesus' authority over the physical, natural, and spiritual. Also, that He used authority instead of His power." (Bailey)
"I didn't really learn anything new, but Ryan definitely deepened and increased my knowledge of Jesus' authority. I learnt more about the amazing power of God and His Son. The speaking was clear and was easy to understand and learn from." (Lydia)
The feedback that we have received from some of the students indicates that they all enjoyed camp and the variety of activities that they were able to participate in eg. the high ropes course; stand up paddle boarding; dragon boating; sailing; the games night; the talent night and studies led by guest speaker, Mr Ryan Heard.
It was also a positive time for building up friendships and getting to know each other better outside the school environment.
We hope to have a full report and gallery of images for you next Bytes but in the meantime here are a few quotes from students:
What are your camp highlights this year?
"Lots of fun with friends and teachers" (Camille)
"Learning various new skills and a bit of competition. Also, spending some time with peers outside of the school stress" (Nicholas)
What did you learn from the talks:
"That God can take on any problems and He is so strong and powerful." (Alyssa)
"I learnt primarily about Jesus' authority over the physical, natural, and spiritual. Also, that He used authority instead of His power." (Bailey)
"I didn't really learn anything new, but Ryan definitely deepened and increased my knowledge of Jesus' authority. I learnt more about the amazing power of God and His Son. The speaking was clear and was easy to understand and learn from." (Lydia)
