Year 8 Nayook Camp
Epping Secondary College has been fortunate to be taking year 8 students to Nayook for an outdoor education experience for the past 9 years.
The goals for the camp can be summarised into two key areas; Community Living and Development of Character Strengths.
In the Community Living, students have the opportunity to learn how to be safe and healthy in various outdoor environments and experiences, to live, operate and contribute to a small community. Additionally, students become more aware of their Character Strengths as well as learn to recognise strengths in others.
The experiences that students are exposed to, places them in many challenging situations, being exposed not only to climate and weather but to activities that many of our students have never been exposed to before, such as cross country skiing, high ropes/canopy quest amongst the treetops and caving. Students work as part of a team by communicating effectively with one another, persevering in activities, being honest and committed, being responsible and respectful for their own and others safety, whilst aiming to achieve their very best.
My thanks to Ms Privitelli for her help and support on the camp, as well as the Nayook staff for running and organising a worthwhile program and camp. Mr Biscaro
Student Comments:
Overall, the Nayook camp was amazing! I learnt so much, made new friends and had a great time. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to go! Hannah O’Bree 8A
I thought the high ropes course was scary at first but after the course, my fear of heights was gone. Amazing experience! Kiara Redfern 8I
The camp has been a valuable experience that I will remember for many years to come. I have made many new friendships and tried skiing for the first time. Brianna Lord 8H
This camp has been challenging but also a fun time. This camp provides people an opportunity to show their true character qualities. Caving, high ropes and skiing have all been challenging but have shown me my strengths and where I can improve. Matt Heale 8B
This camp has been full of amazing experiences. I have had so much fun learning and improving my skiing, having a go at the high ropes course and making my way through the caves. Everyone has been so encouraging and supportive of one another and the snow tasted really good! Lucy Christiansen 8I
Camp Nayook was an amazing experience for everyone. I overcame many of my fears. The camp gave me a better and more confident mindset and really helped me work on my character strengths. We learnt the basics of skiing, which I really enjoyed, we also did caving, which I loved and it was something I never thought I would do. Huge thanks to Nayook for having us. Jake Scicluna 8E
This camp has been an amazing experience. I have overcome my fear of heights on the Canopy Quest and learnt the fundamentals of skiing. Bridie Groves 8A
The camp has been very fun and enjoyable. I really liked the caving; it was very challenging but fun. The skiing was very good as well and Sir Little John helped me a lot and taught me how to turn. I would recommend this camp to everyone.
Kaidyn Cockshutt 8F
This camp will be a camp I will never forget. I have faced many fears as well as made new friends along the way. We have all learnt the basics of skiing as well as looking into our character strengths. I highly recommend this camp if you ever have the chance. Stephanie Janevski 8I
This has been an amazing camp, full of fun and challenging opportunities, which pushed us out of our comfort zone. I had lots of fun learning how to ski, going on the high ropes and crawling through the caves. I definitely recommend that you come here if you have the chance. Anh Nguyen 8I
Nayook was a great experience and a good chance to learn something new. It taught us that no matter what you always have to be persistent and persevere. Connor Abela 8B
The overall camp has been so much fun. The food has been excellent and the activities have been so interactive and so enjoyable. Cohen Curnow 8I
This camp has been amazing, as it gave people the chance to get out of their comfort zone and to be brave and courageous. Caving was very important as it taught us to use our character strengths such as leadership and teamwork. Matthew Stingas 8G
Camp Nayook has been an exciting and engaging experience for the students who went. Caving, skiing and high ropes are among the few activities they offer and are very fun. If anyone gets the opportunity to go on the camp, I would highly recommend it. I have had a fantastic time and it has helped me improve as a person and release my character strengths. Noah Canals McInnes 8F
This camp has been a camp full of opportunity for students in year 8 to step out of their comfort zone. I was challenged on the high ropes, in the cave and when we went skiing. Even if I fell, I got back up and kept going. Everyone helped and encouraged one another to do their very best. I would recommend you attend this camp if you get the chance.
Maecy Romari-Rowan 8G
This camp has been one of my favourites so far. I have learnt more about myself and others while on camp. On our first day we all were lacking in communication and teamwork but as soon as we left Nayook we took those character strengths with us to use in real life scenarios. I would 100% come back. Aidan Wellington 8B
I personally found the camp to be a new and exciting experience. Skiing was probably the hardest part of the camp but was a new challenge and Sir Little John taught us well. I am glad I went on the camp and recommend it for any future year 8’s. Hayden Heathcote 8D
This camp has been a very enjoyable and challenging experience. I enjoyed learning to ski and doing the high ropes course. Liv Rizzo 8A
This camp was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed learning how to ski and enjoyed the challenge of skiing down Mount Baw Baw. I am very grateful to have been a part of the experience. Luke Maj 8D
The camp has been a great experience. I have enjoyed every bit of it. I have especially enjoyed going skiing. I also went to the top of Mount Baw Baw, which was a very challenging but exciting and memorable experience for me. I would definitely come back to Camp Nayook if I had the chance. Amy Pullar 8D
Nayook was definitely an amazing camp and one that I will remember. The community was very welcoming and friendly and made our experience a lot more enjoyable. I am very grateful to have the opportunity to come on this camp.
Emma Jeffs 8A
This camp was great. I really enjoyed the experience and I learnt a lot about others and myself. Nayook has been the best camp so far. Toby Hickox 8B
Camp has been the best fun experience ever. I have learnt lots while on camp and met new people. If I could return, I would. Hayden Mckernan 8C
This camp provided us many ways to build character and learn more about the people around us. I have had a lot of fun at Nayook and the experience it gave everyone made people change and think more positive, which made it a fun camp for me. Aiden Jacobson 8E