School Camps

School camps - What's your opinion of them? Beneficial? For fun or for educational purposes? Length of stay? Age groups? Cost?

My first class camp I was in Year 6 and we went for a trip to Monbulk. I was on a top bunk and I remember talking with the other girls, long into the night. I vaguely remember it was cold but now it is all so long ago, the rest is not a blur - there is nothing else.

As a teacher, one of my favourite camps was a trip to Sovereign Hill, Ballarat. I remember rolling down the hill with my students and getting up very dizzy. Another colleague who had never rolled down a hill before, made it her mission to try it. She would begin rolling and when she felt she went crooked, she would readjust her body to make sure she was rolling straight down the  hill. The bus trip was long so on the way, another colleague and I made sure to sing lots of songs, camp songs, modern songs (that we changed the words to) and we sang loud and for most of the trip. Everyone joined in, although one of the staff members tried to sleep. On the way home, after a week away at camp, my friend/colleague and I were both so tired, we slept. I can never hear the Corr's song, "Leave me breathless" without thinking of that time when we sang, "Heave me breakfast". It was a lot of fun!

I've been to beaches, forests, the city and caves, camped in tents, old buildings with cracks in the walls, modern facilities and everything else in between. I've travelled on buses, trams, trains, canoes, and boats. I've climbed on ropes, trees and rocks, abseiled, rode horses and hiked.  I've seen the sun rise, sun set and been on camps where there was no sun, just grey clouds and rain and on one camp, there was even snow. Looking back, I can not remember any camps that weren't good. There were some moments that weren't great but overall, each camp had reasons for me to rate it as successful. 

What makes a camp successful? It's a good camp if I haven't lost anyone and no one has been seriously injured, if at all. If I managed to get any sleep, that means the students were quiet and possibly sleeping, so that's a bonus. Most camps I can remember the fun we had, the laughs, the late night snacks, the talks where a child shared their struggles, watching children encourage each other to do something challenging and toasting marshmallows on the camp fire.   

Each camp teaches valuable life lessons and I have been privileged to go on so many. Next week, I get to go on a camp to the city with my wonderful students and I am looking forward to it. I am not looking forward to getting up so very early in the morning to meet them all at the railway station but I know that it will be worth it. When I told my husband what time he had to drive me to the station, he laughed. He keeps asking, "What time do you have to go?" and every time I reply, he laughs. One time he managed to hold back the laughter but his eyes still laughed. If he dares to ask again, I will not reply.

Please feel free to share your stories of camps with your class in the comments below. I would love to read them!