This term Class 4 set off on an Adventure Camp at Quaranup.  Our camp fit in with many of the themes for the Class 4 child, such as a growing sense of independence and meeting challenges.  The aim of Class 4 is first and foremost to channel the powerful energy which ten year old’s bring to the classroom.  Pupils need to be challenged and stretched in every possible aspect of their work.  ‘Work, work and lots of it” is the motto for Class 4.

We began the year with the adventures of the gods from the Norse Mythology main lesson, and set out with a sense of openness and exploration that the gods would have been proud of.  Quaranup is a beautiful natural environment with lots of fun activities on offer.  The children were fantastic and adapted well to the different activities and instructors.  They were very independent - taking care of their gear and getting organised, and worked together to support each other in a new situation. 

On arrival, Noongar guide Lindsay Dean welcomed us to Country, told us some dreamtime stories and shared his knowledge of the area.  He took us for a walk along the beach, showing us how to greet the water.  Finding pippi’s, skimming stones and exploring in the seaweed were favourite activities on the walk.

The children were super excited on the first night and that, combined with the midnight thunder, lightning and rain made for little sleep but a big sense of adventure!   A steamy post-thunderstorm morning, a lesson in map reading, and then off into the bush was our introduction to Rogaining.

Swimming, raft building, archery, hiking, sensory team games and bush activities kept us on the go.

We couldn’t have done the camp if not for the hours of help and organisation from parent helpers.

Deepest gratitude to Kirsten, who spent many days and weeks planning and organising quantities and shopping to ensure that we had everything we needed for every meal, even individual trail mix portions for bushwalking!

Our wonderful dads, Glenn and Will, were available the whole camp and calmly supervised the boys dorm (the early risers, last to sleep, and night wakers), as well as kitchen duties and lots more, including Spotlight in the bush, administering frequent minor first aid of all kinds, night-time spider spotting and also the Ship Game - guiding blindfolded ‘ships’ to safe harbour.

Much appreciation to Tamala and Alexandra who spent a night each in the girls dorm, put together meals and ensured the smooth running of the kitchen, amongst supporting and caring for the children, and me! 

Back in the classroom we have been working on all kinds of follow up activities from camp, including thank you letters, social and emotional learning, protective behaviours topics, narrative writing, and mapping skills.  All this in amongst our maths main lesson on Long Multiplication and Long Division!  Our final main lesson for the term is Mapping, which follows on from our hands on learning on camp and involves lots of teamwork and collaboration.  Well done Class 4!