Dear Families and Friends

This week our Yr. 6 students head off to camp at Camp Coolum Luther Heights. They leave on Tuesday and return on Friday. We wish them all a safe and adventurous week of fun, friendship and flying foxes!  We hope they make the most of this chance to develop new friendships and to cement lasting bonds before they leave for High School next year. What a great way to finish the year!

Below is an informative article about the benefits of school camps and how important they are in developing life-long learning skills in our students.

School camp is a fantastic opportunity for children to develop new skills, friendships and interests. However, for many kids (and their parents!) just the thought of sleeping away from home can provoke high anxiety.

Some of the common worries about camp include:

• Not being able to sleep properly
• Not liking the food camp will offer
• Who they will be sharing a cabin with
• Not enjoying the activities the camp will offer
• Feeling homesick

Although these are understandable concerns, it is important to help kids feel more positive about camp and to overcome the fear of not enjoying camp.

The benefits of school camp are numerous, here are my top five:

1. Development of social skills

School camp is a great opportunity to develop a range of social skills. Most activities at camp involve team work, which is great to strengthen established friendships and also to develop new friendships by connecting with children they don’t regularly talk with at school.

Through bonding activities, children develop supportive relationships not only with different children, but also with their teachers. At camp, children have the opportunity to learn about acceptance, caring and understanding.

2. Development of independence skills

For many children school camp is their first time away from family and home for a few nights. Parents are not there to remind their kids to eat their vegetables, brush their teeth, or to have a shower. Therefore, this is a great opportunity for kids to grow up by learning how take care of themselves and to do things on their own. Most kids do rise to the challenge and learn to rely on themselves when they spend time away home.

3. Development of decision-making skills

Should I go with my friends or should I do the activity I really want to do? Should I have the third slice of pizza? Should I stay up or go to bed? Supervising teachers are not able to hover over each child all the time, so at camp, children are responsible for making more of their own choices.

4. Increased environmental awareness

During camp, children are exposed to authentic nature-based experiences. Hands-on activities in the outdoors stimulate all senses and facilitate learning. Children become more aware of the environment, develop outdoor skills and appreciation for nature.

5. Learning new skills

At school camp, children will be exposed to a range of activities that they may not have tried before. When away from their parents, children are often more adventurous and willing to try new things.

(Melbourne Psychology Unit)

PREP OPEN MORNINGS 

This term sees the start of our 2020 Prep Orientation visits and Prep Open mornings.  See below for details. We encourage all our Prep parents and children for 2020 to take advantage of this valuable opportunity to visit our school and learn more about our Prep classrooms. 

Yr 5 Parents Needed!

Date: Wednesday 11^th December - 7-10pm. You would be required for a couple of hours on the night to serve food and drinks to the Yr.6 students and their parents. We also need a small group of Yr.5 parents to help prepare the food for the night. The food will be paid for by P and C but they would like volunteers to assist in organising. Please see Karen Ryan DP or Mia Gillies,  Secretary of P and C,  if interested.  You can contact us via the office. Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you to those parents that have already offered to help.