“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!”

Proverbs 16:16

When we remove all stressors or moments of discomfort from young people’s lives, we risk creating the expectation that every experience should be entirely positive.

School is often seen as a predictable environment with clear routines, but when we step back and consider the wider educational journey (including our cocurricular offerings, excursions, projects, and camp program), you will see that we have intentionally created opportunities for students in safe, age-appropriate spaces, to step into low-level challenges, practise positive risk-taking, and grow in ways that are not always easy to measure.

This week, our Years 8 and 9 students have been involved in our camp program. Year 8 students are taking part in their challenge camp, while Year 9 students are involved in a variety of meaningful service experiences, including a school-based service program alongside Youthworks, or one of our immersion opportunities in Fiji, South East Queensland, or Cape York. I look forward to seeing more about these in upcoming newsletter editions.

Across all these programs, we aim to:

• Provide an environment outside the classroom where students can deepen their self-awareness and collaborate meaningfully with peers and staff.
• Strengthen relationships, learn new skills, and achieve shared goals in settings that differ from the predictable routines of school life.
• Encourage students to feel safe to make mistakes and to build resilience as they overcome challenges.
• Offer experiences that strengthen students’ sense of belonging within a community.

The concept of lifelong learning sits at the heart of our camp program. Character qualities, seen in how our students approach the changing environment, are significant markers of success in experiential learning. These qualities include being curious, using initiative, showing adaptability, becoming socially and culturally aware, learning about leadership, and being persistent.

It is natural for your daughter to feel nervous about camp, or even to have asked not to attend. However, camp is a compulsory and essential part of our learning program because its benefits genuinely extend classroom learning.

The opportunity to face challenges that feel a little bigger than their everyday experiences is a precious gift. Experience tells us that she may even return with new friendships, memorable stories that resurface in Year 12, and a deeper understanding of her own courage and capability.