Aquinas College Camp 3 Blog

On Monday the 10th of May we welcome the third group of Aquinas College students to join us at The Summit. How lucky that we had the warmer weather follow the students. After everyone got settled into their accommodation and had lunch it was time to head to the Stadium. Here we shared our 5 Keys. We share these keys with every group that joins us at The Summit. We believe in order to unleash inner greatness you must do at least one or more of our Five Keys.

1. HAVE FUN.

2. PLAY ALL IN.

3. MAKE LOTS OF MISTAKES.

4. GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE.

5. DON’T GO HOME WONDERING WHAT IF.

We also shared a goal-setting technique called Target, Stretch, and Super Stretch. It’s important to be clear with your goals, so you get the most out of what you want to achieve. This is a way the kids could break down activities or things they found challenging into three manageable steps. Now that all of the talking was out of the way, it was time to make our way out into the park and have all the fun. We started by playing a game called 50 Up. The students were given an exercise ball that they had to keep up off the ground for 50 touches as a team. Solid effort of 44. Well done all!

After that, it was time to get into our activities. The year 8’s had two lots of rotations to start their afternoon. They were: Abseiling down an 18-meter wall, Scavenger Hunt, Orienteering, our amazing Bush Challenge, Snake and Nails with our dear friend Mitch the Snake, balancing over our Sky Bridge over our beautiful lake, Inflatables, and embracing our Leap of Faith. The Leap of Faith is a 12-meter platform the kids jump off from and do their best to catch the bar, if they were successful in grabbing the bar they were able to hang upside down. From there they let go of the bar and were lowered onto a safety mat, talk about pushing, pushing themselves outside their comfort zones. Well done everyone. As the day came to a close The Summit crew shared a little something called Great Moments In Camp (GMIC’S) throughout the Year 8’s time at The Summit we got them to write down all the great things they saw someone else do, then we shared them over meal times and free time. Great way to support and get around each other. Very inspiring to get and receive compliments.

On the first morning, the students joined us in setting a morning Intentions. As the saying goes- win the morning win the day. We believe if you set your morning up with clear goals and direction you are more likely to get the most out of your day. The Year 8’s take a moment to reflect on their own intention before sharing a few within the room. Some examples where;

· To give everything a go

· Do every activity

· Do my best

· Play all in

· Support my friends

Now that we had considered and set our intentions for the day, it was time to go make it real out in the park. We played a game called Huckle Buckle to get our bodies moving. Once we were warmed up it was time to continue with our rotations. All the groups completed the same activities as one another.

Whilst all the year 8’s were completing their activities, they also had to come up with team names. Instead of groups 1- 8 they were known as the following:

1. PITTIES

2. HAWARD KFC

3. CRISPY

4. LETTUCE TURTLES

5. BBC NEWS

6. ORANGITANGS

7. MARK IS TALL

8. BRITISH EMPIRES

As the day went on it was soon time to get filthy muddy. The students had been looking forward to our Monster Course all morning. Thank you to all the students who got comfortable being uncomfortable and for playing all in, especially when it came to partaking in our EPIC Monster Course in the afternoon. Where they completed the course not once but twice. This is a timed event. The first time to see how fast they can run the course, and the second to see their team’s improvement time. The reason why - we like the students to have a reference of them thinking they having nothing left to give and then doing better than what they thought they could. It shows a lot about a team that shows up when it’s challenging. ‘Anyone can show up on a good day, it’s how you show up on the hard days that matters the most. Every team had a great improvement time on their second laps. GO TEAM! Great to see you all giving it your very best.

To start off our last morning off we started with a session on Gratitude; we got the kids to think about all the things and people they were grateful for in their lives. And how the presents of our actions can have a positive effect on those around us. A few things to be grateful for where;

· Family and Friends

· Mum and Dad

· Grateful for hot showers

· Education

· Pets

With gratitude on the radar, we hit the park running one last time.

To get the students' bodies moving we played a game called Jockies. After this, it was time for the students to complete their last two rotations.

Once again incredible efforts for all the year 8’s even though most of them were feeling pretty sore and pooped after a long three days. They all did a fantastic job, staying tuned for the last few hours. It was evident many of the year 8’s didn’t want to be going home wondering what if, by the way, they applied themselves to their final rotations. Before we knew it lunchtime rolled around. After lunch, it was time to say goodbye.

To all the Aquinas students that joined us at The Summit, we wish you nothing but the best for the rest of the year. Thank you for joining us it was great to meet you all. Do your best and remember ‘keep getting uncomfortable because your comfort zone won't grow if you keep playing it safe.

From your Summit team,

Ash, Madz, Jac, Paris, Chey, Cam, Soph, and Jackson.

RESULTS

Bush Challenge:

1. 20.19

2. 19.44

3. 11.56

4. 29.38 2nd PLACE

5. 29.42 1st PLACE

6. 23.16 3rd PLACE

7. 18.21

8. 22.43

Monster Course

1. 5.10

2. 5.21

3. 5.5

4. 8.30 3rd PLACE

5. 12.28 1st PLACE

6. 5.19

7. 9.00 2nd PLACE

8. 8.20

Values winners

1. Lucy

2. Benzie

3. Brodie

4. Sophie

5. Lucy

6. Lucy

7. Zac D

8. Tyra