From Year 7
A highlight on the calendar each year, the Year 7 Camp delivered again. With a change in location and activities to better suit the needs of our students, I aimed to elevate the camp experience further.
PGL Campaspe Downs sits on over 160 acres about an hour north of Melbourne. The value of this journey being only an hour couldn’t be understated. Our students arrived with a lot of energy, and it was great to see this being poured into our camp activities sooner rather than later. The staff at PGL were incredible. They were a great resource for our students, and I felt that they played a big part in our camp, being great. On arrival our students were eager to find out their groups for the camp. Our staff had worked hard to ensure groups were familiar but also provided some opportunity for connection. One of my favourite things about camp is all the new friendships that come about. There were so many new ones and I think we have some iconic duos and trios forming.
Across the camp our students completed a range of activities. The Giant Swing and Leap of Faith seemed to be the headliners for the camp, but it was some of the lesser-known activities that really brought the best out of our group. Activities such as Initiatives, Bush Craft and Raft Building got our student working together, to get the job done (Bob the Builder reference anyone?). It was great to see teamwork on display and feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Now to the real highlights for our kids: The food! Now I won’t downplay how important food is on Camp. The better the food, the better our kids are. I wouldn’t say there is a stigma around camp food, but I don’t think many of us expect gourmet selections. However, as far as camps go, the food was very good. The menu was fresh, dynamic and our students had plenty on their plates. While the salad bar wasn’t as busy as we would have liked, our students enjoyed a range of meals from Chicken Wraps, Roast and Pasta. The banana bread at morning tea also was a huge hit.
At night, our students completed either Sports Activities or Trivia. Trivia saw our students group up and test their general knowledge. The teacher group dominated; however, they fell short during the music section, which may have required a little more time spent on TikTok to win!
Overall, our students had a great time on camp. Some overcame their fears, others made connections and even a few smiles when there were seconds at mealtime. It wouldn’t be a camp without any memorable moments - For me, one moment comes to mind. This was on the bus on the way home. You would think that our students would be tired. If they were we didn’t know, as they treated staff to their best renditions of popular songs including Carly Rae Jepsen’s, Call Me Maybe. Oh what a treat!
Jordan Miller
Year 7 Leader and Transitions Coordinator
Year 7 camp 2025 at Campaspe was very exciting. I enjoyed hanging out will all my friends while doing amazing activities such as: The giant swing, leap of faith and bush craft. My favourite activity would be the giant swing because I got to do it with one of my best friends. The feeling of going up and up was pretty scary but once the rope let go it was spectacular. But the best thing about camp was doing amazing things with your friends. I made many new good friends at camp, and I connected more with the ones I already had. The whole thing was a fantastic journey. We got to overcome our fears while connecting with other people. Over all the camp was fantastic and the friends we made where even better.
Seth Miller
Last week I was given the opportunity to go to Campaspe. With each activity we were able to help and support each other. The whole experience of camp was super fun. I enjoyed our building activities where we were placed in our group and given an activity to do, we built rafts and slingshots and many of us enjoyed using them. Even though I was cold I enjoyed spending time with my friends and learning more and more about each other, I can’t wait to spend the year with them.
Frankie Hogan
At year 7 camp I enjoyed the activities especially the giant swing, bottle rockets catapults and much more, even though I didn’t enjoy the food that much having a nice group of friends in my cabin and some great activities made up for all of it and was a great experience. Another thing i enjoyed was making stronger connections and how everyone got along with each other in the activity groups. overall, the grade 7 camp was good and I liked it a lot.
Alma Jaques
For camp overall it was good. We went to some place called Campaspe Downs in Kyneton. What I really enjoyed was the friends that I made. I made a bunch of friends who I felt comfortable around and I could really express myself. The next best thing though, was the activities. these were super fun, and the instructors were helpful and supportive to you, they also were clear about what to expect and what to do. For me, my favourites were the Giant Swing, The Leap of Faith and the Rock Climbing.
Chris Launer