Latrobe Special Developmental School Camp Blog

From the moment I met all the wonderful students and teachers of La Trobe SDS, I knew this week was going to be epic. The energy from Ayva alone was enough to sustain the vibe the room had. After our official welcome, little intro video, and our Five Keys of Have Fun, Play All In, Make Lots of Mistakes, Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable, and Don’t Go Home Wondering What If, we got stuck straight into it.

We were all devastated when Andrew had to leave early after not feeling well, but we were fortunate enough for everyone else to be able to see the three days out. After a quick game of Gotcha and a promise to Ayva that the harnesses and helmets were coming, we went straight into our first activity of Laser Skirmish where Jordan, Arfat, and Declan all jumped straight into the action and were amazing. From there we moved over to Highwire where Ayva finally got her harness and helmet on, and Riley showed how determined he was to try everything.

Wednesday night was the perfect night for a movie and for everyone to stay up way too late on the first night of camp. The bleary eyes were everywhere on Thursday and Zavier could barely keep his eyes open when we started the day off with a chat about setting a morning intention and watching a video about how easy it is to set our day up.

We then went over to Tash’s Ladder where Chantal, Kiera, and Ayva were all incredibly brave and even Kate and Jacki had to see what all the fuss was about. We then had a bit of a Scavenger hunt where I was treated to the La Trobe SDS school song around the campfire, which was unforgettable. The Rockwall and the Snowy River Challenge were also amazing, with Riley pushing himself again to give our Tyre wall a go and Jordan flying through our Wombat Hole after first being very nervous. Chantal was also very inspirational, jumping into the Wombat Hole herself again and again. We did miss Jahmel for a couple of activities, but it was so good to see him back again after a nap. Thursday afternoon was also the Monster Course, where everyone was pushed through some epic challenges involving tyres, mud, cargo nets, mud, charades, buckets, and a whole lot more mud, which Declan loved! Zavier helped and pushed everyone through and the resilience showed by him and everyone else was something I hope all students, especially Jarrod and Jordan who battled being very cold, are incredibly proud of.

After another movie night on Thursday, we started Friday with another chat about gratitude from Kid President before our final activity and a few games. We made our way up to our Army Tank and played Key Punch before once again putting on our harnesses and helmets and going on our Giant Swing. Arfat was amazing on the swing, being brave enough to go to the top on the first go, and Kiera pushed herself to the top after braving the first level on her first turn.

We played a few more games of Where’s George and Hula Hoops, but it was obvious it had been a very big week as Jahmel, Jordan, and Chantal had nothing more to give, so we had a bit of a chat about the week, gave our Thank You’s and had a group photo, before getting on the bus and saying bye.

Liam and I would like to thank all the students and Kate, Jacki, Janine, and Vicki for an amazing few days. You were incredible and we hope to see many more students from La Trobe SDS visit us again in the future.

Adam