Events

Term 4 – A new beginning for the current Year 11s and the commencement of their HSC studies. And to start them off on the marathon ahead,  the Annual Year 12 Retreat at Camp Kedron, Ingleside. And what a great time it was. Two days packed with information, seminars and activities.

We started our time together with some, fun and somewhat embarrassing ice breaker type games, where we learnt which students were the most talented at impersonating their favorite animals. This was followed by 2 seminars run by an organization called Elevate Education – One called “Ace Your Exams” which helped students to improve their exam technique and another called “Student Elevation” which dealt with goal setting and motivation. Both were extremely helpful to all who attended and as the presenters were university students who themselves had done extremely well in the HSC, what they communicated, was well received.

After lunch we then had a session on Leadership. This was a chance to exercise some creativity in groups by creating “the worst possible leader speech” which was then acted out by one of the group members. This was very amusing and some feathers were ruffled a little by some of the sexist remarks (as you would expect from a bad leader!) After this we looked at good leadership and what it is to lead your self and to be a person of positive influence in the lives of others.

This was all followed by some free time and then dinner. But it was not till after dinner that the real action began ie Capture the Flag – 18 Boys vs 28 Girls! After much struggling, some crazy dives, lots of prisoners and a few grazed knees Holly Crawford  managed to steal the boys flag and secure it in their base 1 – 0. But the boys of course wanting revenge, managed to convince us to play another game and luckily their experience from the first game and their sheer determination finally gave them a win tying up the series 1 all! The decider will be left to the end of next year at the Year 12 Final Evening at School!

The next day Donna Kane spoke to us about her life at school and how she had been bullied in Year 6 & 7 and how this had later manifested in anxiety and depression. She spoke about her difficult path and how God had been faithful in not only getting her through but bringing her healing and joy. She spoke about her current position, working with Operation Mobilization and how students could do a gap year program with this organisation if interested. This was followed by Mrs McQueen who challenged students to think about “where they get their identity” from and to see themselves as created and greatly valued by God. This was then the platform from which they could approach both the HSC and their life ahead and this was a wonderfully uplifting and encouraging time for all.

Later we had Mark Brown from the Bible Society (who we do the Covie Mission Trip with) come and speak about Schoolies Mission to Fiji after the HSC and the wonderful opportunities that were available. This was followed by lunch and some more team building activities and a final debriefing. Then it was off home and overall it was a wonderful 2 days and it was a great place to prepare for the journey ahead!

Mr Monin
Senior Section Coordinator

On the 5th of October six yr 11 students, Mr Hill and the Bothma family departed Sydney to begin the Gold Duke Of Edinburgh Hike on Fraser Island. After flying up to Hervey Bay, we caught a ferry across to the world’s largest sand island. Over the next 10 days, we saw some of the most beautiful lakes including Lake Mcenzie and Lake Boomanjin, hiked over 110km and slept in 8 different campsites across the island. We passed through rainforests, deserts and bushlands and saw some of the amazing wildlife  including a few adorable dingoes, snakes, goannas, leeches, march flies and a range of decaying corpses. We pretty much starved as we underestimated the food intake (except Dimity who had endless supplies of cashew nuts). However, this did not damper our Edinburgh spirits as we battled the elements with an intense passion only intensified by the challenge.


Places to forget:
• Valley of the Giants (aka valley of the leeches and world’s worst dunny)
The escape of our woes was found within the pages of Romulus My Father. We read the book over the course of the hike and will never forget the power it gave us to keep going.

Favourite memories:
• Cooking pancakes for 2 hours because the oil spilt throughout Lauren’s pack, and the stupid trangia.
• Swimming in an orange creek that gave us a top of the range fake tan (for free).
• Driving David and Mr Hill insane with endless musical  numbers

Overall, the hike, with all its ups and downs, was a really memorable experience and we thoroughly enjoyed learning about ourselves and each other. GOOD ONE.

Thanks to Mr Hill and the Bothmas