• who test positive for COVID-19 stay home and isolate for five days and do not attend school after five days if they are still symptomatic

• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive, do not attend school. This does not include students with pre-existing conditions such as hay fever.

Parents and carers are recommended to continue to report their child having COVID-19 to both the school and the Department of Health.

We ask parents and carers to remain vigilant in preventing COVID-19 transmission. Any unwell student should continue to stay at home to keep students healthy and well in our school and reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases.

Parents and carers will be contacted if their child shows symptoms while at school.

Students who wish to wear a mask should continue to do so.

ROD DAVIES, VIVIENNE WEARNE and NAT McLELLAN
Deputy Principals – Heads of Campus

If you entered the Minimbah Hall on Tuesday 8 November, you would’ve been greeted by the excited hum of 50 Woodleigh Junior Campus students, strategising and putting their best piece forward.

Yes – it was the inaugural Woodleigh Junior Campus Chess Tournament, with 48 Minimbah students (5 absent due to illness) and 7 students from Penbank, battling it out across the checkered boards.

Students from Years 1 – 6 played 6 rounds of chess across the whole morning, playing in either the Junior (Years 1-3) or Senior (Years 4-6) Division. They were able to experience the context of competition Chess; from reading the pairings for each round and identifying their board location and colour, to using timers and seeking clarification from the competition director, Anthony.

This was a wonderful opportunity for Minimbah students who love to play chess, or who are learning through our afterschool activity, to put their skills and knowledge to the test, in a safe and familiar environment.

We are expecting that this in-house tournament will become an annual event and that the Minimbah Chess team will return to an interschool competition in 2023.

Well Done and thank you to all of the students who participated! It was fantastic to see your enthusiasm and sportsmanship on display throughout the morning.

A special congratulations to the place-getters in each Division, as it was very close between the top 5-6 players in each division:

Junior – 3^rd – JJ Horne 2^nd – Charlie Cary 1^st – Byron Simmonds

Senior – 3^rd – Oscar Farmer 2^nd – Dallas Teleskivi 1^st – James Law

Thank you also to Sammy Nutt and Franny Cook for ensuring the Penbank students could join us for the morning. Thanks also to the Minimbah staff and students for their help in setting and packing up.

And to Anthony, the competition director, for his patience, knowledge, and for sharing his love of chess with the students.

GABBY WILLIAMS
Inclusion Teacher

Recently the Hive took over the school and ate lunch in the staff room! They enjoyed a shared lunch of hotdogs. We would like to thank Tom’s Mum, Lisa, for organising this. The children certainly enjoyed a special lunch.

We are exploring self-expression through the Arts, an inquiry into How We Express Ourselves.

We have been inquiring about various art forms such as clay, drawing, painting, paper folding and movement. These have certainly inspired the children to try new things and display lifelong learning habits such as experimenting and curiosity that will develop a love of learning.

The children’s playful creativity was evident as educators observed the children immersed in the process of working with play dough, clay, loose parts, pencils, paints, and paper. No one was concerned about the outcome, which allowed their creative styles to come to life. It also provides a valuable skill of learning to be in the moment and nurture it as they connect with the world around them. One of the goals behind our provocation was to develop healthy self-expression and inspire them to try new things, take risks and think creatively toward a lifelong love of learning.

Recently the children have repeated their portrait drawings, and such self-expression is valuable for the positive development of a child’s identity, self-confidence their belonging to the world. Each child enjoyed the process and communicated their feelings, thoughts, and ideas. Their creative thinking and connection with resources have allowed the expression of feelings beyond verbal language.

We have provided the opportunity to paint with watercolours and water pencils in a small, quiet space where children learn to communicate their ideas through mark-making and visual representations. For instance, many children were observed speaking about the different brush strokes, brush sizes, colour mixing, and colours.

“It’s the shade. It’s dark,” Amelie

“The yellow is happy,” Seb

“The grey is rain or clouds,” Aaren

We viewed some famous art pieces and incorporated them into our well-being focus by allowing the children to express their feelings, likes, and dislikes in constructive conversations. Activities such as this support the children in developing emotional literacy as they learn to accept different perspectives and learn about teamwork and different opinions.

“I don’t like that one much. It’s not as happy,” Spencer

“I like that one,” Mila

“It has lots of lines,” Arlo

“That one is my favourite,” Amelie

“It’s night-time. The swirls might be wind,” Luca

“I like the garden,” Dorothy

As educators, we learned more about the children’s perspective of the world; this has helped us respond positively and show appreciation for individual preferences. To discover more about ourselves, we discussed our passions and what inspires us to create or be creative.

“I love nature,” Spencer

“I love my family,” Amelie

“I love running,” Tom

“I like basketball. I can bring mine in,” Oscar

“I like fire trucks,” Rafi

“I like cars,” Jack

“My home and garden,” Walter

“My mum,” Zahli

“Nature, I like trees,” Noah

We are expressing ourselves through movement.

Educators have observed the children wanting to express themselves in physical ways. Each Friday, we have incorporated some time exploring the school environment, as we have noticed how much they love making the most of different ways to move.

“The football is the best. It goes high,” Oscar

“I can kick this right over there,” Tom

“I can bounce this ball watch,” Walter

“I play soccer, and I can kick this ball,” Seb

“I’m going to go all the way across,” Aaren (Balancing on the beam)

“I can jump,” Maisie

“It’s good without shoes,” Amelie (Walking on the sensory path).

“I love the basketballs. I will bounce it,” Arlo

“I love the hammock. I have one at home. Can you swing it a bit?” Noah

“I get calm,” (in the hammock) Maisie

We have observed the effectiveness of offering opportunities to move when the children feel energetic or tired. It can help children to regulate by exerting energy or calming down their nervous system. We have provided experiences for physical activity, such as gym visits for physical play, yoga for slowing down, and meditations to promote calmness.

LISA COXON
Head of Early Childhood

Literacy in Early Childhood

During our recent Book Week, we invited the families to come into the ECC and be a ‘mystery’ reader for the morning or afternoon. This initiative has been a great success with a wonderful community response from parents, grandparents, and aunties! It has been so rich for the children, families, and teachers that we have kept it going until the end of the year. Thank you to our ECC Minimbah community for participating in this rewarding experience for all the children of The Cocoon group.

As we approach the end of the year and think more about the value of literacy experiences, it is timely to be reminded by Mem Fox, a well-known children’s author, about what is important for young children to learn when considering reading skills and capabilities.

“Research around the world has proved that children who are read to regularly are better able to learn to read easily, happily, and quickly. Listening to beloved stories again and again is a step on the road to literacy that cannot be ignored, no matter how gifted children might be or how disadvantaged; no matter what grade a child is in, or how young or old, no matter which language children speak; no matter when they start school; no matter which country or city or town or suburb they live in; no matter how far behind they are in their schooling. Reading aloud cultivates the essential enchanting engagement with books, stories, rhymes and songs that every child has to experience before the formal teaching of reading can begin. The books that children listen to provide the best possible words in the best possible places. They teach children the language they will need. Learning language—learning how to speak—is the most important pre-reading skill of all. Learning how to talk clearly, with a wide, interesting vocabulary is far more important than anything else in preparing children to learn to read—much more important than learning the letters of the alphabet or letter/sound relationships. Put simply, children who can’t talk can’t learn to read. We have to teach them to talk first and reading aloud to them is the best way of doing it. “ (Mem Fox)

Nature in our hands

The children encounter the natural world with such natural curiosity, wonder, and engagement. Children are active hands-on learners when engaging with nature, whether in the ECC playground, the school gardens, the creek, on a neighbourhood walk or at the Derinya Reserve. We have noticed the children holding nature in their hands and wanted to capture these micro-moments of connection with nature.

Celebrating our year together

We are already planning and preparing for our ECC Assembly - please keep the date free Thursday 1 December. (More information to follow when we get closer).

A special Christmas end-of-year tradition in the ECC Cocoon group is designing our own Christmas Stocking. We have begun this process with the children, and great care and time are dedicated to this process. They are a beautiful keepsake to treasure forever and come home at the end of our year, which is fast approaching!

We look forward to the children sharing them with their families.

Warmest Regards,

THE COCOON TEACHERS

The children are all very enthusiastic about their literacy and are enjoying their Read Write Inc sessions. In Maths, we have been exploring place value, problem-solving, addition, and subtraction. We have been working on explaining our strategies when we solve a problem. The children have also enjoyed connecting with stories as part of our unit of inquiry, and we are excited to have another author workshop later this term. Vikki Conley will run a creative writing workshop for Foundation and explore character development, idea generation, and creative expression.

We are also looking forward to a special event with our Year 6 Buddies. For the last couple of months, the Year 6 students have been working to make a unique picture storybook for each Foundation child. On Thursday 1 December, the Year 6’s will present their books, and we will have a Teddy Bear Picnic together.

Last week we began rehearsing our Nativity Play for Perberkoong. The children all know their part in the play, and we will spend a lot of time practicing over the next few weeks. Perberkoong will take place at 7pm on Wednesday 30 November at the Senior Campus Bush Chapel. The event is free, but the school asks that you RSVP via the link provided in the event notice in this Messenger.

We will be providing the costumes for the children. On the performance night, they just need to wear a light-coloured t-shirt and pair of shorts under their costumes, a pair of white socks, and their black school shoes.

We have a very busy couple of weeks ahead, so I thought it might be helpful to remind you about a few important dates.

Key dates:

Pesta Indonesian Day – Monday 14 November

Step Up Day - Wednesday 16 November - Foundation to go to Year 1 from 10.30am to 1 pm

Team Athletics Day - Friday 25 November

Perberkoong - Wednesday 30 November at 7 pm (more details to follow)

Teddy Bear Picnic with Year 6 - Thursday 1 December

Beach Picnic - Wednesday 7 December

Also, just a reminder, the children need to have a school hat to play outside in Terms 1 & 4. It is also a good idea to apply sunscreen and insect repellent daily at home before school.

Kind regards,

JACQUI
Foundation Teacher

It is amazing how quickly this term is just flying by. We are well and truly back in the swing of being inquirers in the classroom, and with the end of the year quickly approaching, Years 1 and 2 are full steam ahead as we make the most of the next few weeks.

This week we have Step Up Day, where the children will spend some time in their new classroom and meet with their teacher!

We have finished our previous unit 'How the world works', with our final task of creating a Rube Goldberg 'What happens next machine'. The students collaborated incredibly as they discussed their designs and tested their theories. They were undoubtedly reflective learners, as many of them discovered flaws in their machines but were able to use their understanding of force to improve their designs.

Rube Year 2 Video

We have now started our 'Sharing the planet' unit with the central idea 'People can work together to create sustainable practices and solutions for our world.'

We have been looking closely over the past few weeks at choices and the impact that our choices can make. The students have recognised that some choices like how we wear our hair or what we have for breakfast, only really impact us. But other choices can affect our friends, family, community, or even global impact.

Photos of Choices work

We have been unpacking the choices we make every day at school, and that sometimes the choice that gives us the best consequence takes a little effort.

We will be extending this understanding to start thinking about how this relates to sustainable practices and solutions and how we can work together to create sustainable practices and solutions.

Here's to a great few weeks to finish up a fantastic year!

Liane and Lexi

Key Dates - Term Four

Week 7

Monday 14th November - Pesta Indonesia Day

Wednesday 16th November - New Students and Step-up Day

Week 8

Friday 25th November - Minimbah Team Aths

Week 9

Monday 28th November - Perberkoong Rehearsal

Wednesday 30th November - Perberkoong

Friday 2nd December - Arty Market

Week 10

Wednesday 7th December - F-3 Beach Picnic Day

Friday 9th December - Term 4 Concludes

We have been unpacking the choices we make every day at school, and that sometimes the choice that gives us the best consequence takes a little effort. We will be extending this understanding to start thinking about how this relates to sustainable practices and solutions and how we can work together to create sustainable practices and solutions.

Here's to a great few weeks to finish up a fantastic year!

LIANE and LEXI
Year 1 and 2 Teachers

Key Dates - Term Four

Week 7

Monday 14th November - Pesta Indonesia Day

Wednesday 16th November - New Students and Step-up Day

Week 8

Friday 25th November - Minimbah Team Aths

Week 9

Monday 28th November - Perberkoong Rehearsal

Wednesday 30th November - Perberkoong

Friday 2nd December - Arty Market

Week 10

Wednesday 7th December - F-3 Beach Picnic Day

Friday 9th December - Term 4 Concludes

Inquiry

Our unit of study for ‘How The World Works’ was a fascinating journey into biology, healthy eating and staying fit. For more information on the latest, here is Ike.

“At the start of this unit, we had a special guest called Dee come into the gymnasium. She is a mother of a student in Year 3. She taught us how to properly exercise. We learned a LOT from her. Then we decided to use the knowledge. The Mini-Olympics were coming, so we needed to prepare. We split up into teams: red, blue, green and gold. Which team is the best? I think they are all the same, so please do not argue. We were working hard and long. We worked for at least three or four weeks on an exercise programme. Then we used it on the Foundation group to the Year 2 group. We have been working on that for a long time! We are all proud of our work, and I hope you enjoy this video of us training the younger students. Thank you for your attention.”

I was impressed at how the Year 3s stepped up as role models and leaders to run these exercise sessions. Each student should be incredibly proud of their achievements.

A special shoutout to Dee (Jett’s Mum), who was phenomenal and taught even our sportiest students more than a thing or two about exercising properly. The teacher also gained a lot from the session; when can I book you in for more?!

Inquiry Video

As part of the Kitchen Garden Explore program, the students are given the opportunity to participate in an extraordinary range of activities that are not always available in the average classroom. As part of the Kitchen program, Lisa Rix has been guiding the students to create some incredible feasts for the whole cohort. The students have enjoyed making seasoned thyme, rosemary and parsley butter on Turkish Focaccia, parsley pesto, chopped kale salad with summer vegetables, (featuring silverbeet, cucumber, tomato, and red onion), a broad-bean salad, broccoli slaw, yoghurt dip and beetroot dip.

Enjoy some photos of us sharing this incredible food.

Mathematics

In Mathematics, we have been learning that there are numbers between 0 and 1.

Fractions are turning out to be a lot more fun than previously realised, and the connections between decimals, fractions and percentages are fast becoming demystified. The key is to see that all the diverse ways of partitioning are the same concept, just in different formats and with alternative names. Here is an average set of maths rotations in action.

Literacy

It is always so pleasing to see our students connecting with their personal reading. Stay connected if you would like some suggestions or advice in terms of book choices as the students mature and prepare for Year 4!

Watch out! We have some incredibly spooky stories coming your way as the students are planning and drafting a story that will give you chills. We look forward to sharing these frightfully soon.

Spotlight

The students were also saddened to hear that Pam and Mel, our school cleaners (and so much more), would be finishing their time at Woodleigh this year. I was amazed to see students use their own time to put together some messages to wish them the best. Here are some images of their messages and a few other miscellaneous photos from the Year 3 classroom.

CRAIG KENNER
Year 3 Teacher

Unit of Inquiry

A highlight of the past few weeks in Year 4 has been the culmination of our last unit of inquiry, How the World Works, with the central idea – systems in the human body support it to function effectively.

Our students worked hard in their team groups to devise exercise plans for the junior students at Minimbah. They collaborated, organised, researched and used their understanding of the body’s systems to come up with cohesive 20-minute exercise plans. It was amazing to see their leadership skills come into action… although our first session exposed a few issues. Our students realised that when working as a team to run these exercise sessions, they would really need to delegate roles and responsibilities to ensure a smooth session. This reflection ensured that our second session went far better and our students shone. This was a wonderful connection back to our first unit of inquiry, where we learned about decision-making processes within groups. The feedback from younger students was that they absolutely loved the sessions, and they would love to continue with them to build up to the team athletics.

Language

Our final writing unit of the year follows the process of ‘open-cycle writing’, where students have agency over the type of writing they would like to pursue, choosing audience, style, and purpose and moving through the cycle of writing all the way from the developing of ideas, to publishing. We have students writing recounts of amazing overseas trips, thank you letters, narratives, songs and even school reports for… their teacher. It is a joy to see their love of writing, senses of humour and independence shining through this experience. Please enjoy the first short snapshot from Oli’s incredible piece of work, inspired by the novel, The Wild Robot.

Voosh! Thwash! went the waves. It was a stormy evening in the middle of the horrid sea. A rusty cargo ship was roughly sailing the seas carrying three thousand robots. All of a sudden, a big tsunami hits the sea like rain pounding against the ground. The ship starts rising in the air. Crack! Crates start soaring through the sky. One blue crate landed on the grey spiky rocks, where a pack of wolves were hiding.

Maths

Our current unit focuses on fractions and decimals and their relationship to our number system. Fractions and decimals are always areas where students find significant challenges, so it has been wonderful to see deep conceptual understandings develop through repeated exposure to concrete materials and different representations of fractions. We often use ‘fraction talks’ as one provocation to deepen student understanding of the relationship between fractions. We look at a picture and talk about what we notice. Here’s an interesting one for you to explore together at home. What do you see in this picture?

JAMES CLAPHAM
Year 4 Teacher

We were all together, which was the most important part. The week was full to the brim of everyone reaching the edge of their comfort zones and then bravely stepping over them with the unwavering support of their peers and friends. Exhausted and with our buckets full we have so many stories to tell, so please enjoy some reflections on the week that was.

JACQUI, JONO, ANDY and ZARA Year 5 & 6 Teachers

Well, I’m off to camp! A week of excitement ahead!

Camp was a great experience for me. I felt very organised in my cabin because everything had a place where it belonged. It felt amazing because at home I’m … well, I’m not a very “clean” person. Turns out being organised at camp changed me. At home my room is spotless and I’m doing very well keeping it like that!

Hehe, Icebergers. Fun, right?

I committed to Icebergers on camp. Basically, this means getting up early every morning before everyone else and going swimming in a pool. It was kinda hard. I had to wake up at 6am with the rest of the cabin because they were all doing it too. On one of the days, I was sick so I couldn’t do it. I was so upset I didn’t do it every day, but that’s ok!! My cabin group and I didn’t keep track of the time on some of the days, so we had to sprint out to the pool!

On the giant swing, I really pushed my limits. When I got to the top, I could hear my heart beating like a drum. That moment, when I pulled the rope, I felt like I was going to fall. But when I started to swing everything felt amazing! The butterflies inside me just flew away. It was one of the best days of my life!

In conclusion: camp was amazing!

OLIVIA

I've got one word and one word only. Camp! The camp was great! I learned that I'm actually good at rock climbing. I have done rock climbing before, but have never made it to the top. When I made it to the top the first time it gave me the confidence to do the harder climb. I was proud that I was able to make it up to the top twice.

Spotto is another highlight of camp for me. I had had some practice from the year 2 sleepover the week earlier, so I was ready to go! We had 3-minutes to find a hiding spot, and I was panicking a lot. I started running around like a chicken in excitement. I decided to hide behind a fountain, and I thought I was going get found straight away. It felt like 8-hours, but it was only 8-minutes and many torches passed by. Then the siren went, which meant the round was over and the year 6s had won! A rush of relief went straight through me. Maybe the fountain isn't a bad hiding spot after all.

GABBY

Camp, camp, camp. How to put it? Maybe ... fun, exciting, busy, and a way to connect and learn about the people in our community. I think reflecting on it, I would say I took all the opportunities. If it was jumping off the leap of faith, going to the top of the giant swing, getting across every part of the high ropes, or even just getting up on the stage and dancing for my group in Red Faces.

Going on camp, I didn’t really have many nerves, but I knew it was going to be a bumpy path for others. I think I did the best I could to respect that. To me, being on camp is like being at a footy game: you may have to stay up late, the adrenaline is always running, and so are the nerves, things might seem to be going terribly but at the end of the day, everything will be all right, no matter what is happening in the moment. So, if I were to do it all again, I would do the exact same thing. (Well, everything but getting back from icebergs late and having to have a cold shower).

So, after this, if I could give one piece of advice to the next kids going to Licola, or any camp would be to take all opportunities possible, because if you don’t, you’ll regret it forever.

LACHIE

The camp was amazing! My favourite activities had to be the giant swing, the flying fox, and the high ropes. The giant swing was so fun. You were pulled up, then you swung over a river and back and forth, the first few seconds were when your stomach dropped and you felt like you were going to die. The flying fox was so big and exciting, I felt like I was on top of the world. I went upside down for a little while.

Sometimes in activities like rock climbing, I tried to do things too fast and would mess it up, but I would always try again a bit slower. Red faces were really fun! Even though my group didn't win, I still loved seeing all the different acts (and dressing up as a grandma). I got to know some people a lot better too, like how I hung out with KevIn and Jess from year 5.

One experience that was funny and a bit stressful was when I choked on honey. It got stuck in my throat and I keep thinking it was still there, it felt like I had a burning beehive in my throat.

Two activities were my least favourite in different ways. The first one was the orienteering; it was tiring and just not as interesting as the others. I felt like I wasn't getting much out of the activity, and that might be my fault for not trying my hardest. The other one was archery. It was hard to keep the arrow going straight because the wind was having a wild party of some sort. I still hit the target a few times with persistence, even though it did make me feel like I wasn't good enough when I missed it.

Every morning I got up and did Icebergers. I think it was a refreshing way to get the blood pumping and the mind going each morning.

I was ecstatic when I learned I was in the same cabin as my best friend. I'm not sure if I would have made it through the week without their support. The two bus rides were different; the first one was a bit lonely because I didn't have anyone to sit with. It reminded me of the bus rides at Sovereign Hill where I was alone the whole time. It didn't make me feel wanted. But then I started talking to the people around me and watching the movie, and I felt better. The second ride, I got to sit with my best friend, and I felt amazing if not disappointed to be leaving camp.

Overall, the camp was the best. Go Licola!

CLAUDIA

At Camp Licola, I had lots of fun. My top three favourite things were the Flying Fox, the Giant Swing, and the Leap of Faith. The Flying Fox made me feel happy, nervous and excited all at once. As I pushed off the platform, I felt a hyperactive butterfly in my tummy, it was a good feeling!

As I strapped myself into the harness once again for the Giant Swing, I looked up at what looked like an enormous pendulum swinging left and right with Tilly hanging at the bottom. The butterfly returned with a nervous friend. I felt like Spiderman, webbing between buildings.

The Leap of Faith was my biggest stretch because I thought I might not be able to stand on the pole and jump off. To my surprise, I managed it; not only once, but twice!

MICHAEL

Licola was an interesting experience as there was a lot of variety in what we did. One moment I was skipping stones on a river, the next I was on a Flying Fox zooming forward in a harness at what felt like blistering fast speeds; (it wasn’t actually that fast). Since we had so much to do, and walking around the camp was a major part of most of the activities, it was exhausting at times. Being able to go to the cabin and flop onto my bed and play a round of Uno or play a tense game of volleyball with my friends, was a great way to chill.

The food breaks were also good; the food, not so much. But being able to talk with my friends was great. Red Faces was a big highlight, it was fun being able to watch the performances and being able to do my own! (Winning wasn’t on my agenda, but I did it anyway). And the disco was a fantastic way to end the last night at Licola. Sleep was also a thing I had to take into consideration. Most nights I got some sleep, and some nights I didn’t. In total, it wasn’t that bad. All in all, Licola was a really enjoyable experience and I hope I can do something like it again.

JAMES L

The camp was scary. I definitely didn’t feel ready, but I made it through. Every day there was a new challenge: whether it was going on the Giant Swing, or just staying another night. My favourite activities were the Giant Swing and rock climbing. Red Faces was also fun, even though I didn’t win. Night was fun, since we got to giggle in our cabins just talking, even though it did have consequences, AKA being very tired in the morning. Even though I got homesick at some points, it was fun. Camp was as tough as a rock! So was Mrs Stocker for not letting me go home, but I’m glad she didn’t let me because I feel proud now.

MOLLY

A memory that resonates strongly with me from camp is Icebergers. Jumping in a freezing cold pool at 7am really wakes me up. I liked doing it so much that since returning from Licola, I have started doing it at home. As soon as my parents wake up, we go outside to the pool and do two laps.

I was placed in an Activities group without my friends. But by the last Activities session, I had made friends with some of the people in my group. I first found it hard, but eventually I found it easy.

FINLAY

Hi there!

This is my reflection on some things that happened when I was at our camp in Licola. You’ll read about my cabin, sad emotions, and the giant swing! Enjoy reading this chaos of a reflection.

New Environments

When I arrived at Licola many emotions were rushing through me but the most prominent was fear and worry of being in a new environment and being away from home for five days. Walking into my cabin was nerve-racking because I knew I had to sleep there for four nights. I was happy I was with one of my friends in a room. Another thing that felt weird was that the rooms were big, and I wasn’t really comfortable with it. My bedroom at home is very small and crammed with my stuff, but by the third night I was used to the room.

Out Of My Comfort Zone

When I was at Licola, I had to do a lot of things I wasn’t used to. I had to face a few challenges, such as the Giant Swing. When I was getting pulled up, I felt very uncomfortable and out of my element. I was pulled up halfway, then I yelled stop! There I was, a few feet up in the air feeling extremely nervous. Then I heard, “3, 2, 1!”

I pulled the string and I flew down and up until it stopped. I felt so proud of myself after doing it. Now I can proudly say, “I went out of my comfort zone, and did the giant swing!”

FELIX

The camp was in a majestic place, and was so much fun. It went rapidly. Most of my feelings are; sick, I was so sick on Tuesday. It was a disaster! Throughout the week I started feeling better.

Some of my other emotions are happiness, because of all the Activities. Speaking of Activities, my favourite activity was the Giant Swing. Coming in second was the Flying Fox. While I was on the Flying Fox, all my fear was taken away as I was flying.

3, 2, 1: I dropped down from the very top of the Giant Swing, I almost flipped UPSIDE-DOWN! It was one of the best memories of my life. The Iceberger Challenge was a highlight as well. I couldn't believe I got up at 6am and jumped in the icy pool at 7am. The best part was probably running back to our cabins. Of course, ours was one of the furthest away.

Licola was one of the best camps I have ever been on.

SOFIA

My first day at Licola was calm, and I learned about the place. Every day we would be in a group, and would do different and unique activities together. Being with other people in a group felt weird at first, but then I felt safe and relaxed.

The Activities we did were challenging. Some I felt like I did not want to do, but when I did it, I felt happy and calm. My most frightening activity was The Leap of Faith, an activity that pushed people out of their comfort zones in a scary way. The Leap of Faith worked like this: one person would have a harness on and climb up a pole. When that person got to the top they would have to jump 20 or more feet in the air and hit a ball attached to a string. My heart pounded as I got up and looked down. I hate heights, but after doing that I felt brave and proud of myself. I realised that heights aren’t as scary to me as they were before.

We all slept in cabins with between 5 to 10 people. I had 6 people in my cabin and dealing with that many people, I went crazy. At the end of the week, I felt relieved I was going home and did not have to put up with 6 people. It was a giant challenge I had to face as when I was in bed, other people in the cabin were awake, and I could not get that much sleep. I had to deal with dirty clothes on the floor and a very dirty cabin. At home, I keep my bedroom clean. When seeing a mess everywhere, I wanted to jump out a window.

One challenge I faced was the worst out of them all: no VIDEO GAMES! I love video games and not being able to do that on camp, I was bored most of the time and really wanted to hop in a car and drive home and game all day.

Rock climbing was one of the activities I did, and my brain was telling me to not try it, but I did. It’s very difficult climbing, with rain pouring on the rocks making it slippery. My determination to complete rock climbing was very low as I have not done rock climbing in a very long time, but I made it!

Being away from my family was depressing and sad, because I could not mess around with my dad and not play board games with my mum. It felt like a year on the bus waiting to go home and see my parents. When I did though, I felt amazing and grateful: I made it home safely.

From Licola, I learned quite a number of skills. Some skills were easy, and some pushed me outside my comfort zone. The first one was making damper without an oven, but with fire! I thought it was not going to work, but I was wrong. It slowly cooked over time and was a nice treat to have. The second was archery. It’s very difficult to aim your arrow at the target and try not to move. I have never done archery and when I did it, I enjoyed it. The last skill was hiking, which tore my legs and made me fall over. I learned that when you're on a hike, always watch out for sticks, mud and holes!

Licola is a wonderful place to spend a week because of the different activities and the food. The place has good food, trust me!

OSCAR F

In Licola, I experienced a lot. Some of the things I experienced were Giant Swing, volleyball, Icebergers, orienteering, and Spotto. In these activities, I felt a range of different emotions. When I was on the giant swing, I felt very excited. When I was pulling it wasn't very fun, but it had to get it done so others could have their go.

In volleyball, I felt content. I was proud whenever I made a good play, or we won a point.

Icebergers was refreshing and I really enjoyed it. I was very proud after I completed all 5 days of Icebergers.

Orienteering was like an Olympic race. It was pretty stressful running around the camp looking for answers. It was like running a marathon, but once it was completed, I wanted to run more even though I was tired. In Spotto, my heart was racing, looking for a spot to hide. I was stressed. Once I found the perfect spot, I was so glad and I knew we weren't going to get found. Once the year 5s were released from the hall, I felt stressed again when they were near us. Then when it was all over, I couldn't stop smiling because I was so glad Cooper and I had survived.

RUBEN

Being at camp was a whole adventure, one too long for me to write. I did everything from facing my fears to overcoming homesickness. I feel it is safe to say it was one journey. Though the camp was challenging, mentally and physically, I don’t regret going. I have learned many things I couldn’t have learned on my own. So let me tell you about it.

When I went to camp, my usual sleep schedule was corrupted by nighttime activities and early Icebergers. Icebergers is a challenge the school sets you to do every morning of camp at 7am. The challenge is usually swimming laps of the pool, but sometimes can differ depending on the availability of the chosen pool. Having to find the motivation to wake up at 6:15 every morning was very hard for me. I usually wake up at 7:30 and lay in bed until 8:00. Icebergers challenged me to find motivation when I was extremely tired. You can also say the cold green pool didn’t look that advertising to swim in either.

On the last day, after Red Faces and the disco, I was extremely tired. I also decided to sleep on the floor in my sleeping bag with the other half of our cabin for a memory to remember. My back was hurting and I could barely keep my eyes open, but I pushed through and felt very accomplished at the end. Even now after camp, I have a habit of waking up at 6-ish. So, no matter the circumstances, you should always seek to push yourself just that little bit more.

When you are homesick and tired, facing your fears is extremely hard. You really need to push yourself and live like there is no tomorrow. I was scared to do Red Faces. I hate when I have to perform or come up with ideas to share. Knowing this you can imagine my worries about the topic. I didn't want to regret not doing it, but I also didn’t want to face my fear. I made a decision that I would do it no matter how hard it would be. I got with a group of people and shared my ideas. I helped come up with our act and our name, ‘The Full Stops.’ Together with my team, I conquered my fear. Although we came somewhere around last, I was still happy I overcame my fear. So, you should always try new things but more importantly, you should always have faith in yourself.

At the end of the day, the camp challenged me in so many different ways. Although I am relieved, I am back home with the people I care about I have to give it to the camp for giving me the opportunity to do new things and face my fears. So, I give you this message. Even when you seem lonely, sad or anything in between, you should always try to find light in other things, and you should always have faith in yourself and the people around you.

EVE

While I was on camp, I absolutely loved the Giant Swing. The sudden drop at the start was terrifying and exhilarating. I also loved the bush cooking activity. I loved sitting around the fire, cooking damper for 25 minutes and then enjoying it. Both activities were different, and yet I loved both equally.

On the obstacle course, I was uncomfortable going through the tires because when I first tried it, I got stuck and I do not enjoy tight spaces. However, even though the tires felt as hard to get through as the eye of a needle, I still tried it. Not only did I get through it but got the best time because of it. I was also uncomfortable with the leap of faith because I have a fear of heights. I really didn't like the small square you had to stand on. I climbed up the ladder but couldn't bring myself to get on the square. I still managed to jump off the front hook. While I didn't jump from the box, while I was up the ground felt as far away as China.

JO

Join us at Senior Campus on Friday 25 November from 5.30pm for the Annual Cambodian Fundraiser and help raise important funds for Chumkriel Language School!

Bring along your friends and family to a night of live music performed by Woodleigh students!

Be entertained by TOP STUDENT BANDS!

Pack a gourmet picnic or buy drinks on the night.

Most importantly, help raise funds for Chumkriel Language School in Kampot, Cambodia.

Tickets are just $10 for the audience, while performers come for free!

Join us for our annual Perkerkoong celebration on the evening of Wednesday 30 November, in the beautiful surrounds of the Bush Chapel.

Perberkoong (a Boon Wurrung word meaning 'come together') is a Woodleigh end-of-year celebration that includes reflections and performances by students from all Woodleigh School campuses, as well as the Nativity Story performed by Minimbah Campus Foundation students.

This annual tradition is a wonderful opportunity for us to celebrate as a community after a particularly full year of rich learning. It's also an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of traditions and spiritualities within the Woodleigh community.

We hope to see as many Minimbah, Penbank and Senior Campus families as possible on the night. Let us know you're coming at the link below.

Please enter via the main school gate on Golf Links Road and park as directed by the attendants.

The Minimbah Fair is back in 2023 with all the fun, activities, stalls and attractions you can poke a half-eaten fairy floss stick at!

Tickets aren't on sale yet... but save the date today!