Aspendale Gardens Primary School Year 6 Blog

On Monday afternoon, Sept 5th, the year 6 students of Aspendale Gardens PS rolled through The Summit gates. They were then shown to their tent accommodation where they had lunch.

They were then quickly welcomed by The Summit staff with Steph/Spinks/ Spag leading the way, quickly the students were taught about the Five Keys to making a successful camp (Have Fun, Play All In, Make Lots of Mistakes, Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable, Don’t Go Home Wondering ‘What If’), students then played a game of ‘50 Up’ and then they started their first initiative as their six groups. From there they had to create a team name, tribe flag and a chant that embodied their whole team. All tribes performed their chants in front of each other and got judged by The Summit coaches out of 5 based on; group participation, creativity and how well they explained their flag and tribe values. The Ugly Ducks won by one point in the end, well done!

Day two and both teams were eager to get started, after breakfast, where the students learned the value of choosing what their day was going to look like, regardless of the three main factors that are out of their control (weather, people, and the activities they are doing). After watching Kid President's video ‘20 Things to Say More Often’, the students were asked to share who they wanted to be for that day. Before activities could begin, we played a game of Pirates. The teams had five rotations to complete. With two rotations complete the tribes were sent up to lunch. As the tribes went back down to the BBQ shelter, they were taught about a goal-setting strategy called ‘Target, Stretch and Super Stretch’, to help them break down activities that may be overwhelming, as well as shown how to put on a harness and a helmet. With three activity rotations to go, students hustled hard, setting themselves goals, and stretching themselves more. Safe to say it was a BIG day, mentally and physically. The activities run were: Flying fox, Rockwall, Tash’s Ladder, Orienteering, Bush Challenge, and Laser Skirmish.

Day three and the students' day started with breakfast and another intentions session where they were asked to focus on how they as a person can influence the people around them and with the help of Beyonce's song and video ‘I Was Here’ the students had to think about and share how they were was going to look like for them. Heading down to the BBQ shelter we played a game of ‘Huckle Buckle’ to get into the right state. We had one more rotation left and an epic tribe challenge before lunch and moved on to six new activities. The tribe games were Life-sized TIC-TAC- TOE and Tug of War. After lunch the students had three more activities to do, the activities included were Giant Swing, Abseil, Snake and Nails, Cave, Inflatables and Scavenger Hunt.

Day four and the teams had a BIG day ahead of them. In the morning intentions, groups were again asked who they wanted to be for the day and how that was going to look, with the help of Soul Pancakes; Wall of Words, the kids were asked about what their favourite quotes were and what they meant to them. Eager to begin their day, groups made their way down into the BBQ shelter yet again where the students completed a repeat after me exercise called ‘BIG STAR, LITTLE STAR’. The groups had three rotations before lunch, after they got changed into their oldest clothes and shoes to embark on The Summit's very own MONSTER Course. After warming the kids up, jumping around in the mud and dancing to loud music, some of the staff and teachers dressed up and performed a dance Gangnam style in front of the students. The tribes were then briefed on the rules of the course and shown to the start/finish line. After their first lap, the groups were then challenged to run the course again, as the winner of the Monster Course is the tribe with the biggest improvement time.

Day five and it’s the last day, the students checked out of their accommodation and had breakfast. The morning started off with intentions but also gratitude, staff read out a bunch of GMICs and then coach Ella showed them Kid President's video, 25 Things to be Grateful For, followed by asking the students in the room to share who and what they’re grateful for. Students were challenged to no checkout mentally as they still had two more rotations of six brand new activities, before leaving The Summit. The activities were as follows: Summit Window, Leap of Faith, Sky Bridge, trust games, Initiative Challenge, and Snowy River Challenge.

Once the teams had done their last activity, the students were asked to choose a Values winner, someone who embodied the Five Keys the most consistently throughout camp and has had or found the fun in every day. To reward the Values winners from all six tribes with their efforts, they got to be driven around in The Summit's very own army tank, while the rest of the group cheered them on!

Thank you so much for coming. We had a blast, all the best for the rest of the year!

Steph/Spinks, Ella, Adam, Mim, Shane, Sophie, and Rohan ☺