A highlight of Term 4 for our Carramar Year 8 students was their three-day camp to Wadjemup (Rottnest Island).
Students spent time exploring the island and embarked on a series of challenge and education-based activities, to bond as a cohort and develop their understanding of curriculum-based objectives in Science and HASS. They were exposed to local history and culture, and had the opportunity to look at this family-favourite holiday destination from a geographical perspective.
As well as educational based activities, students also undertook some exciting physical challenges during their time on camp, such as bike riding, snorkelling and swimming.
We caught up with two students after their trip to see what they thought.
Ruhi Patel had this to say:
“I was expecting Year 8 Camp to be a mix of adventure and relaxation, with a few fun activities and time to hang out with friends. I thought we would spend most of the time on the beach or cooking food. I also thought the camp would be a chill, relaxing camp, so all the biking around the island surprised me. My favourite part was seeing the quokkas up close. I’d heard about how cute they were but seeing them in person was amazing. They were so friendly and curious, and it was cool to be able to watch them in their natural habitat. I learned that Rottnest, or Wadjemup, has a very significant and complex history, especially for the Noongar people. The HASS talk explained that it was used as a prison for Aboriginal men in the past, which I didn’t know before. It made me think about how important it is to respect the land and understand its history beyond just seeing it as a holiday spot. The most challenging part of the camp was definitely the biking around the island. There were some long stretches that were exhausting and steep hills. Even though there was a lot of biking, it was a really fun experience and adventurous camp; one of the best I’ve been on.”
This is what Lachlan Crawshaw thought:
“I was expecting camp to be a fun time with my friends where we would go snorkelling and riding our bikes around the island. My favourite part of the camp at Rottnest was snorkelling at Pinky Bay because there was a lot of cool fishes, and the reef looked nice. I learnt that Rottnest Island originally used to be a prison and that Aboriginals were sent there from all over WA for any crime they committed.The hardest part of the camp was cooking our own food because the ovens were very slow in the cabins, we later used the grills outside which made our food cook a lot faster.”
Thanks to our amazing staff for everything they did to make this camp such a memorable and important learning experience for our students!