Arbury Park Camp Success – Deep Learning and Deeper Connections

At the beginning of term 2, our Year 4, 5, and 6 students attended a five-day camp at Arbury Park in the Adelaide Hills, fully immersing themselves in the exceptional nature experiences the facility and facilitators had to offer. The camp was an overwhelming success, providing an opportunity for students to create genuine new connections or strengthen existing relationships, all within a vibrant and stimulating environment.

Throughout the week, students took part in a wide variety of engaging lessons. Highlights included campfire building, damper cooking, hikes into the local mountain ranges, ecosystem analysis both on land and under water, and learning through Aboriginal perspectives. Many activities were designed to build and extend teamwork skills.

In addition, the structured downtime allowed plenty of opportunities for students to connect with staff and with each other, show leadership, and build a sense of community. Both the Arbury Park staff and our own staff were full of praise for our students, who engaged positively and respectfully with each other, the facilitators, and the environment.

A very big thank you to all staff and parents who gave up their time and spent time away from their families to help make this camp possible for our students.

Here's what some of our students had to say about their experiences at Arbury Park:

"They said we were one of the best schools they have had in a while and they made us feel very welcome." – Sadie 

"We used team work to tie knots and make a shelter to protect us from the storm coming from the West." – Wyatt 

"I learned that moss provides 300 times more oxygen than trees." – Adaline 

"The tastiest food was the chocolate milk." – Jakob 

"The web of life challenged me as I was trying not to die!" – Freddie 

"I learned that stringy bark trees grow to over 4000 years old." – Henry 

"The teachers at Arbury Park had answers to our questions and were very patient with us." – Maggie 

"The cooks made delicious food." – Harlee