Lakeside College Year 8 Camp Blog

On September 2nd, 2024, the students and teachers from Lakeside College arrived at The Summit for their 5-day camp. After heading into the Lodge and having lunch, they met The Summit coaches and were introduced to camp. Adam/Papa Smurf introduced the rest of the coaches, Spinks presented the group to the Five Keys of The Summit- 

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.

Since there were Five Keys and five days, they focused on one key per day, building on the previous day's key and practicing it in the park. Before starting their initiative challenges, they were shown the stage and played a game called 50 Up, once sitting on the stage they were shown how to put on a harness and helmet and then taught about a goal-setting strategy called Target, Stretch, and Super Stretch, to help them break an activity down into three different goals to get the best out of themselves on the activities. Rotation one was underway as the weather started to turn up the intensity,  all tribes assembled at the stage to play a game of shoe bowling until it was time for the next activity called tribe identity; tribes made their way up to the Lodge There they created their tribe flags and armbands cementing their tribe's name and values. they had to carry their flags and wear their armbands throughout camp. The day was wrapped up by sharing The Summit's way of giving written affirmations and compliments; they are called GMIC (Great Moments In Camp), the students were then informed of times for dinner and breakfasts and given a list of free-time activities. 

On day two, the students started with breakfast in the Lodge. Spinks led an intention session where they discussed things out of their control, such as the weather, people, and activities at camp. The students then set their intentions and decided who they wanted to be for the day. They played a game to get their bodies moving before starting the activities; the game played was Crane, Tiger, and Egg. They then took part in three activities before lunch and two activities after lunch. The activities for the day were; Flying Fox, Cave, Summit Window, Snowy River Challenge and Inflatables. GMICs go out to; Indie's leadership in Snowy River Challange, Rai and Emily starting themselves In Summit Window, Eli’s speed in Inflatables and Jasper's bravery in the Cave.

On day three, the students began their morning with breakfast; after a meeting, we started by expressing gratitude and reading some GMICs. Today's intention session focused on language use, emphasizing the importance of using an inside and outside voice to benefit not only oneself but also the team. The goal was to set their attention on who they wanted to be for the day and how they wanted to show up for their team. After the intention session, they went down to the stage where Adam led a game called Jockeys, Then, they took part in two activity rotations before lunch, and three activity rotations after lunch to finish the day. The activities were Giant Swing, Leap of Faith, Bush Challenge, High Wire, and Orienteering. GMICs go out to Josh in Bush Challenge, Jet for going for the Giant Swing, and Maddie for her voice Highwire.

On day four, the group had breakfast and returned to the Lodge for another session on intention with Adam. They started by reading out heaps of GMICs, followed by discussing the importance of movement and physiology. They talked about how they can create an enjoyable day by using their focus, words, and body to move. Afterwards, they played a game called Huckle Buckle and had three rotations of activities before lunch. Next, they made their way day to the stage to warm up by doing some Show Bowling and a bit of dancing to the Macarena, Cotton Eye Joe and the Nut Bush before the introduction to the Monster Course. The tribes smashed not just one, but two laps of the course to emphasize resilience and the importance of self-improvement. The winner had the most improved time from their first lap. Finally, they rinsed off, had a shower, then had some dinner, and ended the day with a movie.

Last day there were a lot of tired faces in the room, Sam ran the group through a recap of the previous intention sessions and talked to them about gratitude, to cement that it was their last day of camp, asking the students to check back in where they were asked what, and whom and what they were grateful for. We also set a quick intention as they only had one more rotation to go and a final tribe game, they didn’t want to go home wondering ‘What if’, The students then reported to the stage to do the final game of Pirates. The rotations were Snake and Nails, Laser Skirmish, Sky Bridge, Scavenger Hunt and Rockwall. GMICs for Ashley for being the only student to make it to the top of the hard side on Rockwall, Israel and Mr. K for being the two fastest times on the Speed Challenge in Rockwall, Emily’s enthusiasm on the Scavenger Hunt. Levi for Snake and Nails and Hateshwa for smashing Sky Bridge.

After the last two rotations had been completed, In the last rotation of camp, the tribes got to reflect on their camp experience with each other and were given a debriefing strategy called Rock, Stick and Leaf (something that rocked about camp, something that will stick with you and something that you would leave behind). Groups then chose a Values winner for their tribe, someone who embodied the Five Keys consistently throughout camp (names stated in the table below). Those students got to go for a hot lap in The Summit's very own WW2 army tank, while their peers watched and cheered!

On behalf of The Summit and coaches, we would once again like to thank you all for playing all in and joining us in having all the fun. All the best for the rest of the year!

Spinks, Adam, Sam, Franzisca and Taylor