Hi this is Hayley and Aidan, writing the blog for the 9th of Sept 2011.

We were student leaders for the day. We had first aid scenarios which were pretty fun - we enjoyed it a lot and learnt how to treat a few different injuries. Then we had peer skills which was mainly learning about conflict that dragged out a bit but we learnt a lot.

Last night we travelled to Orbost Secondary College to see the production ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. We had to organise everyone and make sure we were all ready to set off to Orbost which was a bit of a challenge but we got there eventually and everyone enjoyed it a heap. The singers were great and the actors were just as good.

Aidan - My favourite part of the production was when Seamor killed the doctor - it looked quite realistic and the bones were pretty life like too.

Hayley - I really enjoyed the whole production, it was done very cleverly and was really entertaining. The whole day I thought was extremely fun and enjoyable. It was also great to see 2B back from expo.

And that’s our day thanks for reading.
Aidan - Upper Yarra & Hayley - Tyrrell College

On the 31st of August, 1B set off for their second Expo. We went along the whale watching track to the sand dunes where we had DEARR We went along to the beach. When we got to the beach we started walking toward Marlo. When we were a few meters from the blue hole we asked Cullem (navigator) how for to blue hole? He said that we were a Kilometre from it. We looked to the right, Hey is that Zevon. So if we hadn’t seen Zevon we would have got lost.

When we met 1A with the canoes we talked for a while then we took the canoes to start the canoeing part of the day. We stop and had lunch on the side of Frenches Narrow. We headed off and we had to stop to pull the canoes because the water was too shallow. We got to the campsite and set up our tents. We went to the beach and played a game of Fox Holes. We had so much fun playing that. When it started getting dark we went back to camp. We started making the nachos for our entree. When everyone had eaten and we were packed up we lighted the fire and I did the review. Once we had done the review we had marshmallows and told stories around the camp fire. We had such a great day one of expo.

A first timer ...

Today is my first time writing a blog so I might tell you about my 3 times as student leader.

My first time as student leader was an eventful one to say the least.  The new experience of leading the day was great until 4:30 when I broke my nose playing footy. Great start!

My second time was a very smooth day. It was rest day and I didn’t do much because I was out for most of the day.

The third and final time was 2 days ago. It was a bit of a sad end to a great role. The community is a bit down and flat and it showed during the day. Not much enthusiasm. But it was great to see the community members stick by one another and make the most of their last 2 weeks.

By Michael - Balwyn HS

Hello everyone!!!!! This is Cullem, back to give you a blog about the SRC and what’s been happening. I am, of course, writing about what has happened before Saturday 3rd September.

Everyone here has been on at least one Expo, with core 1 having finished two. We have been caving, surfing, Marlo Challenge-ing and much more. Mishaps rarely happen (somehow) and we are getting along really well. My favourite activity so far has definitely been caving. On the rest day that I was student leader it was fun, although no-one showed much respect during our Community Game, which was extremely vexing. If you (or someone you know) get the opportunity to come here, I would recommend you encourage them to go or come yourself. Thanks to the expos, I have learned that girls are (somehow) more picky with their tent partners and boys can break anything, including the two washing machines and dryer we were supplied with. Of course, they were accidental breakdowns. I hope. Anyway, this place is cool, the mornings colder and the classes awesome. Loving it.

Cullem - Boort District School

Hi, we’re Jade and Morgan and yesterday we were student leaders together. For this blog we’re going to write about our CLP Presentations because we had our CLP Presentation class yesterday.

Morgan: For my schools CLP (Bendigo South East) we’re planning on working a Multicultural day into our school for our year nines. We are intending to base the day on only a few cultures; Korean-Burmese, Chinese, Indonesian and Thai. For our presentation we’re going to have a Talk Show, with two hosts and four guest speakers. Using humour we’re going to guide them through a mind journey, different traditions, what our project is and a sports section at the end. It should be a good day!

Jade: I’m from Doncaster Secondary College and our CLP is titled “Spark an Interest”. We go to a local primary school and teach grade fours about chromatography for 4 weeks. We are planning to present our CLP Presentation by dressing up as mad scientists in lab coats and having a chemical reaction in test tubes for the opening to engage the audience. Throughout the rest of the presentation there will be audience members coming up to demonstrate some of the experiments that we will be doing for the grade 4’s.

We will be showing these presentations on the 21st of September, it should be an amazing day!

Today at Snowy River it was a rest day. Everyone was all pumped for a day of relaxation or ready to go out and do some activities. In the morning a group of 22 went out to Orbost and went shopping. Many had fun trying on clothing and buying a few things for a bargain. Others decided to work on the bike track and were hard at work for a few hours but much progress was made and with many hands it made light work.

In the afternoon a movie was chosen, Mamma! Mia the sing along with many joining in on the songs. Even Miss Holloway, our cook, danced with a few of the girls. Some of the boys went out for a bike ride instead and rode around the local area.

Our community goal was to play a game of silent Ninja which to begin with didn’t get much support from the community but after a bit of time and a bit of persuasion everyone came together and much fun was had. Evening class was Music and many showed of their musical talent and livened the community’s spirit. Many sung, played the guitar, bass, flute, saxophone and bass clarinet. Many enjoyed the return of a familiar face, Mr Francis, who we haven’t seen in a very long time.

All in all this was a great day and even though there were a few hiccups throughout the day we got through this as a community. 

Chloe - Tyrrell College

Hey everyone, it’s Julian and Maddy and yesterday we were the student leaders.

Julian: We have been having lots of inside classes lately which isn’t too bad since we have lots of work to get done. So we had passports and I finished a whole criteria which I was very happy with. I really enjoy working on my passport because I am writing about stuff I’ve never really thought about. I am up to criteria six (Leadership) and I hope to finish eight (Indigenous Prospectives) soon. I am also looking forward to the creative part of it all.

Maddy: The community vibe is awesome. Everyone is getting on so well together, and we are like a big family. Our community goal yesterday was to get everyone involved in different games. It was great to see everyone participating and having a red hot go.

Well today was very eventful, we had 2A on the Enviro bike ride which was a lot of fun. The Enviro bike ride was 28.5 kilometres so it was a fair way but 2A came out with high spirits and sore legs after a hard day bike riding but it was very enjoyable.

Back at campus, 2B had first aid as one of their classes. We learnt all about how to treat people with injuries such as; serious burns, fractured limbs and spinal injuries. It was a very informative class and we had some fun with role playing. Today was also the day that 1A came back from expo 2 and 1B set out for their turn. 

Our student leaders today were Jessie and Jaicob. They have been doing a great job and are going to be running our evening class tonight which should be interesting. Everyone is having loads of fun and we are going to make the most of the last 3 weeks. Thanks for reading!

Jade C. - East Doncaster & Laura - Upper Yarra

Hello to our dear readers! Back on the 1st of September we, Laura and Lani, were student leaders! *Cue dramatic music, mwuhahahaha!* To make our day particularly fun, we decided to make the community work for their afternoon tea. So we set up a devilishly difficult treasure hunt, consisting of four checkpoints located at various places in the school grounds. To find these checkpoints, students in four teams of nine had to unravel a riddle to send them to the next destination, written by none other than ourselves! So as the rest of the student body raced wildly around the school ground hunting for their next clue, we sat leisurely at the big shed, nibbling on our dear cook Ms Holloway’s famous peach cake.

Well done team 3 who found us first, and the whole community were very proud of themselves as they got their cake! Until tomorrow, see you later!

Lani & Laura - Upper Yarra Secondary

The day that Pat and I were student leaders we had expo preparation, so we couldn’t do our blog the following day so we decided we would write about our expo.

Expo was awesome fun, with great weather and a few morning drizzles and we had a tail wind most of the canoeing part. The mood was up and we were all happy to be on expo with great weather compared to our first expo where we had 118mls of rain for that day and night. As we set out on our journey through the whale watching track we were all singing away to our previous expo songs that we had made.

We met 1A at the blue hole after walking on the beach and we were relieved to see familiar faces and get our packs off ready to go canoeing. Though we faced challenging head winds we reached camp quite early and managed to set up before dark. Miss Moore took us down to the beach for a game of fox holes which was sandy but fun in every way. We had a great dinner of pasta before huddling around the fire, sharing stories and doing our review for the day. The night was quiet and 3 of the boys were out at 5.30 to go fishing which one was Pat.

Getting on the water to go canoeing for the day was very exciting and the weather was nice again. Canoeing down the Snowy River onto the Broddrib River was quite exciting and with all the songs we sang made the day go really well. We made great time during the day arriving at the camp early in time for lunch that day, the teachers said that we were there extremely early compared to other times. We played a game after lunch which was forty-forty and went down to the river to go fishing and Jono and Pat went for a swim. Our day was really good and that night after all of us had carbonara for tea and we went and sat around the fire and had more stories and review.

Our last day on expo was an early rise and we got up at 5.30 that morning to hit the water at 7 am that morning although we were running late we still made good time. Starting the hike for the rest of the day was really good and we managed to make great time again on our walk up mount Raymond. The climb may have been hard but it was definitely worthwhile after seeing the views from the top. After a yummy lunch of wraps and cruskits we headed down to the car park and got the bus back to campus with Mr Reeves driving us the way back. Expo for us for was just amazing with such good weather and many songs being sung thanks to Amelia-Rose for the new song making. Expo was so much FUN and we all enjoyed it.

Pat and I did something different for our student leader morning, we did a rhyme for the things that needed to be read out in the morning so we both decided to include it in our blog.

Community vibe is still lively and fun
Even though we’re missing everyone
Linen changes was really good
People made their beds as they should
We need to respect
The things we get
Or else we’ll lose
The things we‘ll abuse
The guys wing is awesome
Just don’t sleep in a foursome
The bathrooms are great
Just don’t take showers too late
The girls are good mates
But goodnights are too late
Focus more in CLP
And progress you will surely find
If in passport you always use your time
How was water watch 2A?
Is there anything you would like to say?
Today 2B has the enviro bike ride
2A had passport 6 and CLP five
1A’s expo is going nicely
Although everything is getting icy
1B’s got expo preparation
So get ready guys for our separation
Tomorrow 1A may be coming back
However 1B are putting on their packs
2A has enviro bike ride and lunches to be made
2B has peer 2 and then first aid
On duty Mr Adams
And Miss Beck
Overnight is Mrs Francis
We can’t rhyme so heck
The winds are N-NW 20km
UV is 3 between 11 and 1.20pm
Temperatures range from 16 to 9
So I’m sure people on expo will be just fine
No past students have contacted us
So I guess they must be in a rush
The quote of the day we can’t rhyme so we will just have to say
A leader is someone who knows the way, shows the way and goes the way
1B, go to the meeting room
CLP, just stay in the common room
2B go to the south courtyard
Is it really that hard seriously?

Hey guys its Jade and Gabe. Yesterday we were student leaders.

Gabe: We’ve been doing great here and having heaps of fun here at SRC so far we have done heaps of stuff like surfing, canoeing, bridge building, bike riding which today I just did the half day bike ride and we’ve done loads more.

Jade: Today I had my CPR Exam and I passed and got 100% yay. I also did my LLP which means local learning project, it’s where a bunch of primary school students come to SRC and we teach different classes in groups of 3-4. My group will be making damper with the students and teaching about different types of bush tucker. Also, in the past few weeks every group has completed their first Expo; all up it was 16k, with 8k on the beach, 8k on trails.

We had lots of fun being student leaders together and we can’t wait till next time.

Jade - Doncaster SC & Gabe- Upper Yarra SC

It was a splendid day as core 1 ventured into the outside world wearing what is now supposedly called ‘traffic cone suits’ (in other words bright orange jumpsuits that had reflectors on them so when you stood under a bright light you could blind everyone within a 20meter radius). And who would have thought, that us lovely children of the future, would be going caving?

On the 15th of August, 1A (our group) and 1B went caving an hour’s drive from campus. The first cave we attended was the ‘Wild Cave’.

It was awesome down there and we all really enjoyed our time, helping encourage each other when needed and all of us completed the journey with smiles.

The ‘Show Cave’ was next, and the amazing rock formations and stalactites and stalagmites were simply beautiful.

We learnt heaps about the caves through our guide and learned that a 10 cm stalactite/ stalagmite takes over 100 years to form, by calcium gathering and freezing at the end of its tip.

All in all, caving was absolutely amazing and we would like to thank all the teachers and our guides for making it possible.

Naomi and Morgan

It was a great day today. Sure we were inside heaps but the weather wasn’t too great outside. My partner Sarah and I were student leaders today which I must admit was pretty fun. I love putting my hand up and having everybody else put theirs up and listen to you.

I had Thinking and Learning 3 in the morning. This is pretty much just about how we think and learn and the different ways. In the 3rd one of the series we learnt about how we learn and the different ways that we enjoy learning. It was completely mind-blowing and I learnt so much.

I found out I was an excellent drawer (I’m just kidding, but I do draw great stick figures) and that I use most of my brain except I don’t use the bottom left side which is about safety and planning.

We also talked about memory and how we use different techniques to revise.

Some people made stories which were really funny, some people even made songs. It was great to see left-brain people drawing exceptionally well and focusing on the lines not the bigger picture. It was a very educational and informative day which Sarah and I enjoyed very much.

Eksath and Sarah

We went canoeing recently; it was good as floating down the water and just chilling in the back seat or sitting in the front seat. Mr Morton and Miss Willis taught us heaps of skills and we set off to paddle down the river/estuary. When we got there we pulled our canoes onto the sand and went to the front of the beach and ate our home made sangas!

So far Snowy River has been amazing! I have done so many things that I didn’t think I would do in such a short time. I have learnt to surf, gone on canoeing trips, built a bridge out of wooden poles and much more. All of those fun things are of course there to be done for a reason; many of us students just don’t see that we are building up confidence, becoming independent and growing up into young adults ....

Corne - East Doncaster SC

I love it here!  I have enjoyed it here so much and its only week 3! It’s great that everyone has made friends so fast. Everyone is feeling really at home here and its weird to think that in a few weeks we will have to go back home. So far surfing has been my favourite activity even if it was freezing. Bridge building was a great way to make our team stronger and we definitely benefited from it ...

Mollie - Tyrrell College

Yesterday I was student leader for the first time with Nick.  At first I was a bit nervous about having to stand up in front of everyone but I soon got used to it.

I think it’s really good that we all get to be student leaders because it makes you see how difficult it can be to control a whole bunch of teenagers and now I will try even harder to listen when someone is speaking. I enjoyed being student leader though even if it took a while for everyone to listen and I’m looking forward to next time.

Dona-Mae – Balwyn HS

Today everyone competed in the Marlo Challenge. We were in teams of five and we raced around Marlo searching high and low for different signs or numbers or pictures to take photos of. Each team was different in their own way; each team had dressed to a theme they decided on. My team dressed like true Australians, while some dressed in their pyjamas and others in different colours.

At the start, we had five minutes to remember or draw as many of the pictures as we could and then everyone was lined up against the fence, the teachers counted down to one, the gate opened and everyone was off. All the teams ran as fast as they could and headed in different directions. Some teams searched for a little bit and headed off back to the start to get another look and have morning tea, my team stayed out a bit and kept searching until 11 O’ clock. We raced around Marlo finding most of the pictures at the start.

Well, where to start???

It’s been really busy down here at Snowy, and some groups have been going out on expo, which is really exciting! We went canoeing recently which was awesome but we had to capsize and the water was absolutely freezing!

Today I am student leader and my personal goals was to be organised and on time to class, and Otis (who is on expo at the moment) wanted to practice speaking clearly and confidently when presenting.

Our community goal was to get the headcounts working really effectively and making sure everyone was paying attention. I think I did really well with my personal goal by getting to class on time. Our community goal also went well but I think people could be paying more attention to student leaders.

I had Thinking and Learning 3 in the morning and Passports in the afternoon for my classes. It was a long day but I learnt a lot about my preferred learning techniques and I also got a lot done on my passport which was really good.

Everyone here is having so much fun and it never gets dull!

Teagan- Kyneton SC

Hi I’m Aidan and this is my blog for Tuesday the 9th of August 2011

So far at SRC it has been a blast, so many new experiences and things to do and new friends to make (even though we’re all like a big family). I’ve only been here two weeks and already I’ve been bridge building, bike riding, learnt all the necessary skills to go out on an expedition and heaps of other things but that would all take too long to write about.

I can’t say everything has been good sometimes not having a bell means you’re always late (like me) or you just forget to charge your laptop but apart from those little things it’s great the people are awesome, the teachers are all fun, there’s always something to chat about with them and they always make it fun and/or add an outdoor thing for an inside class. Also I hate to brag but the cooks here are amazing, thank you Mrs Pascall and Mrs Hollaway.

So far this leadership school is awesome, I’m having a blast, I can’t wait for the next 7 weeks!

Aidan - Upper Yarra SC