1979 School Magazine

GRADE 9 CAMP The Bornhoffen camp establishment in the Numinbah Valley, witnessed the arrival of two enthusiastic Grade 9 classes, along with their equally excited teachers, on Sunday 12th April this year. The combining of these two classes increased the opportunity for communication with both class members outside their immediate circle of friends and also teachers. The relaxed environment and isolation from radios and television, aided the development of an informal yet educational experience, utilizing the naturalsurroundings as the basis for the pro- gram. A prepared booklet stating the activities for the camp, listed sessions in geography, orienteering, art, science, mathematics and miscellaneous exercises, which were all pursued throughout the duration of the camp. For the 'hyperactive' creatures among us, the catnp site provided facilities for physical exercise in the afternoons such as volleyball, archery, soccer and swim- ming at a nearby waterhole, followed at night by Mr. Stamford's in-depth questionaires and theories. (The relevance of "how to survive on the moon with fifteeh objects" still baffles many minds.) lt was considered, however, that the highlights of the five days were the overnight camps in the bush (which drained every drop of energy from their victims), the visit to the glow-worm cave at the Natural Arch and the camp fire on the Jinal night which was built by Mr. Stamford, Mr. Emery and Kerry (a resident). The general consensus at the end of the five days, was that the experience.gained f rom this camp had been beneficial in the respect of opening many minds to the world around us and the conditioning of bodies to a night in the bush. Although physically and mentally exhausted, the participants of the Grade 9 camp still contained enough remnants of energy on the return journey, to enable them to voice their enjoyment of the camp and their appreciation for the members of staff involved, who made the camp such a success. L. Higgins