While Term 3 was only nine weeks long, the Year 9 cohort certainly packed a lot in, combined with the highly anticipated BRIDGES Camp and Brigidine Day – it was a very busy end to the term.

The Hall was a hive of activity on the morning of departure with sleeping bags, warm jackets and a slight air of nervousness as the students gathered for the start of an action-packed couple of days. Everyone piled onto the buses for the two-hour drive to Rubicon and the two-night stay at Camp Jungai.

At Camp, students participated in activities such as a high ropes course, canoeing and bush art. The highlight for students was Aunty Aurora and her knowledge of indigenous culture and the lands around Camp Jungai. She showed the students many natural ingredients which can be used for skin care and much fun was had in making their own concoctions.

Each student had one night in a cabin and then one night ‘camping’ on-site in a tent. The camping students also had to prepare and cook their own food – some groups were more successful than others at being a chef, and so they appreciated the prepared breakfast the next morning.

The Camp was a wonderful way to bring together all of the year level and celebrate the learning which had taken place over the past three terms in the BRIDGES learning program. A massive thank you to Ms D’Offay and all of the teachers and Learning Diversity staff for supporting this wonderful camp.

To conclude the term, Brigidine Day was a wonderful celebration of the students who live by the school motto, “Strength and Kindliness”. The Brigidine Award winners for Year 9 were Erin Fredericks and Vivian Liang, two very worthy recipients whose nominations from their fellow students recognised such traits as “ … she has a positive attitude and is also very happy for everyone’s achievements” and “… she welcomes students with open arms and is always encouraging her peers. She takes on all opportunities and challenges”.

The Year 9 Lip-Sync Dance under the guidance of Ruby, Olive, Millie and April was well choregraphed and in my opinion was the best student dance of the day. Everyone was enthusiastic about getting up on stage and into the spirit of the ‘dance off’. The cheers and applause from the audience ensured that there were lots of smiles from the students as they entertained the crowd.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful rest over the Term 3 break and have come back in Term 4 all refreshed and excited for another term of learning.

Kylie Carroll

Acting Level Leader: Year 9