Redeemer Lutheran School year 6s returned from Victor Harbor last Wednesday to conclude a clean sweep of year level camps for the school’s students in a tough 2020.
“The year 6 aquatics camp was touch-and-go with the lockdown only just lifting,” Redeemer principal Andrew Kelly said, “I applied as soon as we could on a Sunday morning for the new SA Health approval required the students to depart. We were only able to inform the students on the Friday before they were due to go – boy they were excited!”
The school’s year 4 camp to Woodhouse in the Adelaide Hills was cut short by the lockdown, seeing the schedule reorganised to fit in as much as possible before returning – including Challenge Hill, crossing a river on ropes and rock climbing.
“The year 4s had left for camp the morning of the snap lockdown and were meant to sleep over that night. We brought students back later than planned so we could cram more in before the midnight travel curfew. The students were really positive and still had great fun.”
A couple of weeks before the lockdown, Redeemer Year 3s went on their Adventure camp. Students visited the Zoo, Adelaide Hill Climb and learned about Aboriginal culture during NAIDOC week.
“Our camp program is about building resilience, independence and what we call in our International Baccalaureate accreditation a ‘growth mindset’. Students learn to push themselves to try new experiences and discover they can do more than they thought. At Middleton the year 6s tried surfing, for instance, and the year 3s took on challenging heights to go down a zip line on their own.
“We started the year really fortunate to get our year 7s away on their Canberra and Sydney camp before the borders closed, which we plan to achieve for our year 6s and 7s early in 2021. To finish 2020 with every year level getting away on camp is testament to the teachers, school leadership and Redeemer’s commitment to provide these personal growth and bonding experiences for every child.