Peninsula Grammar Year 7 Camp Blog 2024

On a warm Monday afternoon, the students from Peninsula Grammar arrived at The Summit gates, eager to begin their adventure. After checking into their accommodations, they met with the coaches and teachers at the Lodge. There, team leader Spinks introduced them to the space and the camp, then introduced the rest of The Summit coaches. Mim and Sam introduced the group to the Five Keys:

1. Have Fun

2. Play All In

3. Make 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 two initiative challenges, they were shown the stage and their numbered spots and played a game called GO-CH with Luke. After the two initiatives were done, tribes made their way up to the Stadium. There they created their tribe flags cementing their tribe's name and values. They had to carry their flags throughout camp and vote for a flag bearer every rotation based on performance and the tribes' values.  They had completed them, Adam and Spinks wrapped up the day by sharing The Summit 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 Heads and Tails. Zoe and Sam showed them how to put on a harness and helmet; Adam then introduced them all to a goal-setting strategy called Target, Stretch, and Super Stretch to help break activities down into more manageable steps, after two rotations of activities, they had lunch. As their last two activities, the groups then completed a tribe challenge called the T.S. SS tennis ball challenge...

On day three, the students began their morning with breakfast; after a meeting with Adam, we started by expressing gratitude and reading some GMICs. The focus of today's intention session was 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 Logan led a game called Jockeys, Then, they participated in two activity rotations before lunch, they had two more activities and ended the day with a Tribe Challenge called Clap Ball, where tribe; feisty Piglets won.  

On day four, the group had breakfast and returned to the Lodge for another session on intention with Logan. They started by reading out heaps of GMICs, followed by discussing the importance of movement and physiology. They talked about how they can create a great day by using their focus, words, and body to move. Afterward, they played a game called Pirates and had two rotations of activities before lunch. Next, they did one more rotation before being introduced to the Monster Course. The coach led them through 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, starting the session with watching a video called Give and Get a Complement.  To cement that it was their last day at The Summit, we ask the students to check back in where they were asked what, and whom they were grateful for. We also set a quick intention session 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, students got their body moving with a repeat after me game called ‘get loose’, run by Zoe.

After the last rotation had been completed, they did their final tribe challenge by Adam called Mystical Creatures, where they had to work together to collect all the mystical creatures that had escaped from their home. After having some lunch, they assembled back at the stage for the last time for a camp wrap-up. 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 army tank, while their peers watched. All the students then made their way to the buses and exited the camp being waved off by The Summit coaches.

On behalf of The Summit and coaches, we would once again like the 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, Logan, Mim, Sam, Zoe, Calarnee, Aron, Jakob, Sara, Odile, Sam, Matt, Luke and Cheyenne. ☺️