During week 4 of this term, Year 5 experienced their first excursion and camp for the year visiting Wirraway Homestead (which means ‘challenge’ in Kaurna language) in Strathalbyn. The camp provides an opportunity for students to learn new skills, build new relationships and experience a different way of life for three days and two nights.

Activities included;

• Horse riding
• Low Ropes course
• Archery
• Sheep mustering
• Shelter building
• Campfire
• Amazing race
• Bushwalking and more!

Here are some highlights from the students:

“The year 5 camp is something to remember. Picture this: 2 nights away in the country on a farm with horses, sheep, goats, and lots of activities. The camp was at Wirraway, it's the kind of camp where you stay in dorms and bunk beds. Out the window, you can see 2 friendly goats, who like a good pat, called Anchovy and little stubby Rosemary. Not to forget the stable down the path that is full of friendly horses. Each day they set up with a challenge such as horseshoe puzzles, which we could practise in our free time. One of my favourite things to do was take care of the horses. Not only did we get to ride them, but we also got to brush and feed them. Their manes are perfect for braiding and they are always so calm ready to be brushed. Although of course horse riding was also very cool. We walked around the arena on horseback and we even got to trot! They taught us some awesome skills such as a doughnut, semicircle, starting, stopping, and turning both ways. All this time with the horses made us feel comfortable and happy around them.”                                                                                                                          

By Ada Cother

“My favourite highlight would be Archery. My group (Nic’s group) had archery on our first day and as our first activity! So that’s a lot of excitement for just the start of our camp! We were introduced to one of the staff members named Hamish. He took us down to  one of the many out-of-bounds gates and we walked down the hill. Once we arrived at the sight, Hamish taught us the rules of archery and how to set up a bow and arrow and showed us how to shoot. We had many rounds and competitions of shooting. Unfortunately, I didn’t shoot any targets but that’s only because I didn’t aim for the easy targets. Other people were luckier, such as Isla, who hit a target and got a “worm” (a piece of foam driven out of the target by the arrow) and it is well known that Sienna hit the can, which if hit, your instructor MUST buy you a free soft drink. Archery was extremely fun, and I would love to do it again. And all those in the younger years, you will have a brilliant time at Wirraway.”                                             

By Emma Batley

“My favourite highlights of camp were Horse Riding and Sheep Herding. In horse riding, there is two sections one up close brushing and patting the horse, the other riding on the horse. We got to learn how to approach the horse, get on and off the horse, how to get around the horse by being safe, how to turn left and right while riding the horse, how to walk with the horse and how to trot with the horse. I liked horse riding because it was a new and exciting thing that I’ve never tried, until now! Sheep Herding was our first exciting activity at camp! We had a staff member called (Bec) to demonstrate and show us how to handle the sheep. To get the sheep in the pen we had to work together as a team. Sheep like staying as one group so we needed to find out a strategy, so we formed a wall to keep the sheep together J. Sheep herding was one of my favourite activities because it pushed our limits and challenged us to figure it out.”                                                 

By Melody Grieve

“For camp, we went to Wirraway and it was so cool! Our dorm was called the Squatters and I shared a dorm with Emma, Melody, Kiara, and Piper. Here are my 3 favourite things about camp. The first one is horse riding. I got to ride a horse called Hope and she was so cute but a bit cheeky. The second one is Archery. It was pretty hard at the start but then I hit one of the best targets and I won a foamy (which is made out of foam). The third one is sheep herding, it was my first time doing it and it was tricky but fun, all the sheep were so cute! I think camp was so fun because there were really fun activities, yummy meals, fun games we played and very kind staff. What was also very fun was the campfire we had, the campfire was so peaceful and relaxing. It was the best 2 nights ever! BTW we had the tidiest dorm and we got the most points according to those spy marks (who went into people’s dorms to see which dorm is the tidiest) and we won!”                                                                                                                                       

By Isla Holden

Thank you to the staff at Wirraway for providing an unforgettable experience and many fun memories. We look forward to more excursions later this year!

Ms Sasha Khammash, Mr Josh Bennett, Ms Kirstie Wicks and Ms McNeil

Year 5/6 Teachers