Schoolkit Writing Activity

This term Room 6 took part in the Schoolkit Writing Activity, and we were paired up with Room 24, West Harbour School in Auckland. We have shared our class interests, things that are important to each of us, words we find exciting and an interesting fact to enlighten our partner school. Each student had a postcard to write their own poem on, and these were sent to our partner school. Today, with great excitement, we opened our pack and set out the postcards on the floor to form the puzzle.

This activity was an amazing way to share information, safely, about our students, our likes, our families, and our community. Well done Schoolkit!!! We love taking part in your activities, bringing the students of Aotearoa closer!

Received from Room 24, West Harbour School, Auckland

Borland Lodge Camp 2017

Beautiful morning

Week 7 saw 58 excited students, 2 teachers and a host of dedicated parents head south west, to Borland Lodge, on the edge of Fiordland, for our Year 7/8 camp. What a location!

During the week students (and parents) were able to experience a wide range of activities, from the traditional camp activities of hiking, through to the adventurous activities of abseiling, rock climbing and caving. Kayaking was also a hit with campers and parents alike, as was swimming in the creeks on the hot afternoons.

Camping took on a whole new meaning with the help of some amazing fathers, who took the students to set possum traps and eel traps at night. There was great excitement in the morning when it was time to check the traps! Not so great when those possums made a reappearance on the "Night walk"

tied to branches or skins wrapped around the guide tape!!

The Night Walk was an amazing experience, which pushed many students (and parents/teachers) to their limit.

Pitch black night, only an electric fence tape to guide us and having to step over roots, trees, branches and rocks that we couldn't see, was tricky! Meanwhile, many parents were lurking in the bushes, making scary noises, touching people with toi toi, making wild pig noises and popping balloons - the silence was broken often by screams and then laughter. What an amazing experience for everyone and to complete a scary night, we had ghost stories around the camp  fire

It was really good to see such great team spirit and the constant display of our school values. When someone was afraid to climb up the rock face or abseil down the cliff, there was always someone in their team supporting them. Almost every one of the 58 students and parent helpers took part in the rock climbing and abseiling, with the help of Dave and Amy from Adventure Southland.

Caving was an experience many marked as a camp highlight. It certainly cured a few peoples' fears of enclosed, small spaces. After caving a trip to the old suspension bridge was really appreciated. Everyone used this time to share their underground experience.

Borland Lodge 2017 was a fantastic experience and everyone enjoyed themselves. The food was fantastic, with chances to experience unusual foods such as Paua, Whitebait, Hare, Rabbit, Possum, Venison and Duck.

We returned from camp on Friday afternoon, and had a long weekend to recover!