Croydon Community School Years 7 to 12 Camp Blog

On a sunny and hot Monday afternoon, the group from Croydon Community School came through The Summit gates eager to check into our Bungalow Village. After settling in, they made their way into the Stadium to meet their coaches for the next five days - team leader Spinks/Steph, Mim, Sara, and Jakob - and also discuss the Five Keys of camp.

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’ 

Groups went down to the BBQ shelter, and a game of 50 Up was played; the groups did it on their first go. Congrats, team. From there, Jacob and Sara did a helmet and harness brief, demonstrating how to keep safe, and Steph/ Spinks took them through a goal-setting strategy called Target, Stretch, and Super Stretch. From there, the two activities began; the first two activity rotations consisted of Giant Swing, Initiatives, Abseil, and the Snowy River Challenge; once activities were done, they were told about dinner, breakfast, and free time activities. There were also things about GMICs or great moments in camp that they could write to each other throughout the week.

On Day 2, it was time to start the first full day of activities. At 9:00 am, I looked around the room and saw many tired faces. After asking them how many hours of sleep they got, I realized that not many got enough sleep. I asked them how they planned to show up for their day and how they wanted to be as a teammate, even when they were tired. We went through a morning prayer or standing intention, reading a few GMICs to start the day. To warm up, we played a quick game called Crane, Tiger, and Egg. In this game, the players had to strike a pose and if they matched with one that Spinks was doing, then they were out until we got one winner. We had a big day ahead of us, with six rotations to complete. The first set of activities were; Giant Swing, Inflatables, High Wire, and Cave. After lunch we completed the last set of rotations; Flying Fox, Tribe Identity, and Rock Wall. Everyone was exhausted but still stretched themselves out of their comfort zones. From chats about elephants on the Giant Swing to music off the top of the big tower with Spinks doing the Abseil and Summit Window, going underground through The Cave.

On day three, the room filled with many rested faces as we prepared for another morning intention session at 9:00. However, the students knew they still had six rotations left. To prepare ourselves even further, we watched a video called 'Wall of Words', where we focused on the words we use. We then asked the students what words or phrases they wanted to say more often to themselves and their teammates, realizing the power of words when doing things that scare us and push us out of our comfort zones. Before lunch, we had three rotations where we did: Leap of Faith, Initiative Challenge, Tash's Ladder, and Bush Challenge. After lunch, we completed our last rotation of the same activities before moving on to our new rotations, which consisted of Summit Window, Laser Skirmish, Sky Bridge, and Trust Games. Although it was a big day, the students pushed through and showed up to their activities. Well, they were done!

On the second last day of camp, we started with an intention session involving many GMCs. We focused not only on our words but also on our actions, such as high fives, fist bumps, and hugs, to treat our teammates better and encourage them more effectively. After playing a game of Pirates, we went on to our three rotations – Summit Window, Laser Skirmish, Sky Bridge, and Trust Games to finish off the day before.  New activities were; Abseiling, Snake and Nails, Orienteering, and Scavenger Hunt. After lunch and some afternoon tea, we prepared ourselves for the epic Monster Course. The course was set, and all groups lined up by the start-finish line. The winner of this course wasn't the fastest time, but the time most improved, which made the second lap even more exciting. All groups improved by more than 4 minutes and 56 seconds. After completing the course, we took all groups up to the mud crawl and ended with a turn each on the water slide before having showers.

It was the final day of the camp, and all the teams checked out of their accommodation before breakfast. They waited anxiously for their intentions and gratitude session. During this session, we discussed the things in our lives and expressed gratitude for them. We then set a clear intention for the day and reminded everyone not to go home wondering what could have been. Our final two rotations, included Abseil, Snake and Nails, Orienteering, and Scavenger Hunt. We had morning tea in between and lunch at the end. During the end-of-camp debrief, we revealed the scores and announced the Values winner from each team who embodied the Five Keys consistently. They also rode a World War 2 army tank at The Summit while everyone cheered them on and watched. The scores and Values winners are in the table below.

Shoutout to Aidan, Takota, and Nathan for completing the overhang challenge on the Rock Wall!

On behalf of The Summit and the coaching team we would like to, again say thank you for coming and having all the fun!  

Spinks/Steph, Mim, Sara, Jakob