Our writing genre that we are learning about is Diary Entries also known as 1st Person Recounts. So that we can be successful, we have learnt about verbs and verb tenses.
We have identified verbs in the different tenses and we have sorted stories told in the different tense.
Today we wrote our own events in the past, present and the future. We found the present tense the hardest to write.
What a view to wake up to! We all had a great night. There were some strange noises from some of the rooms though :)
Not only was it a great morning, it was also Cooper's birthday today.
First up this morning was breakfast followed by some outside time. It was very peaceful apart from the happy calls from one friend to another. We played mini golf, went on the playground, rope swing, trampolines and we discovered a slide. By 9am we were ready with our backpacks in our private study to meet Joseph. He led us on a walk to our first set of activities. It was time to try Archery, Air Rifles and Low Ropes.
So we could have more turns, we split into two groups. We all loved having a go with the bows and arrows and air rifles. We really got better and better. There was a target goat at archery that could not escape our sharp shooting. Having said that, there were also some trees and bushes that could have done without the arrows that landed on and in them :)
Low Ropes was a chance to test our team skills. We worked in teams of 3 to support each other through the different challenges. If we passed the challenge there were 'super' challenges we had to try.
After lunch we headed off to initiatives. This was a true test of our terrific teamwork. We worked in groups of nine in order to solve a number of problems. We had to communicate effectively, listen to all ideas, support each other and ensure we all succeeded. It wasn't always easy but we felt really proud of ourselves once we achieved our goal. Some problems were easier than others but we showed determination and resilience.
After initiatives we headed back to camp for some afternoon tea and some recreation. Yup you guessed it we got to go on the monorail, trampolines, gaga dodgeball, mini golf and rope swing again. The monorail is definitely a big hit with our children.
Next was dinner and there were a lot of happy faces as they devoured their dinner of burgers and chips. After dinner we were introduced to the game colours. Simply it is a game of three teams (blue, red, yellow)whose objective is to capture other members of the team and turn them into their colour. At the end of the round you return to your homebase and count up how many team members you now have. Easy huh?! Check out the end results ... but don't worry Mums and Dads all children have had showers so will not be coming back to you multi-coloured.
There is a lot of mixed feelings within camp tonight. All the children have had a great time and talk about all the fun things they have done. For this reason they don't want to come home but they also admit they are ready to come home as they miss you all.
Tomorrow will be all about packing up, cleaning our accommodation, going for a swim in the pool we all love and then some more recreation activities. It should be a great way to end what has been a truly fantastic camp.
Well, what a day we have had. Excitedly we all arrived at school with our gear ready for a great three days.
The bus ride was great and Ms Lange and Mrs Taylor were happy that no-one was sick on the journey.
The bus dropped us off at Governors Bay and we got to eat our morning tea and run round a little. Then the fabulous instructors from Living Springs met us and we started our walk. We had to walk up a hill to get to camp. Some of us complained but we all made it! We were happy to see the top. What a super cool view from our camp!
After we collected our luggage, we went off to find our rooms. Then it was straight onto orienteering. Joseph explained how we could read a map to go and locate different points. We had to work as a team. No man or woman was left behind! Two teams got six points correct. We were hungry again now so lucky for us it was afternoon tea time. After eating some delicious chocolate cake and watermelon, pineapple, apple and oranges, it was our recreation time. Recreation means we could try ziplining, monorail, mini golf, rope swing, trampolines and gaga dodgeball. So much fun!
To finish the day we completed our camp diaries with what we have done, what we found challenging and what we are looking forward to tomorrow. What a great first day of camp we have all had. We are all looking forward to our next adventure tomorrow.
Night all.
After seven stressful days of elevated Covid levels, we finally have the final go ahead to go on our class camp to Living Springs on Monday 8th March.
We all breathed a sigh of relief as we listened to the joint press conference with our Honourable Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield on Friday.
With Christchurch now at Level 1, we are able to be part of a gathering with more than 100 people. That means that if we had stayed at Covid Level 2 we would have been unable to go. We understand that we are extremely fortunate. Many students around the country have had class camps cancelled or postponed because of the change in Covid alert levels. We really feel for them because we know how excited we were in the lead up to our camp. Hopefully they will be able to go on a different date.
On Monday morning we will all be at school before 9am with our camp gear. We are looking forward to going away together but also to trying new things. At Yaldhurst, one of our values is being an open-minded explorer. We will definitely need to keep this with us this week as we attempt new activities and tasks that we have never tried before. A big one for many of us is that fact that we are going away overnight without our parents. Because of events over the last two years, for many this will be their first school camp. We are ready and we are excited!!
Keep an eye on our blog over the next few days to see what we get up to.
