Our year 10s faced the challenges set by Emu Gully camp and through the activities and guidance of the Emu Gully camp leaders, discovered the value of supporting those in their group even when the conditions became tougher. The students shared their goals for the camp at the start and highlighted messages of support for each other. The camp staff then challenged them, through the activities, to keep up this team support and care for each other when they were not in their comfort zone. To add emphasis to these activities, each team became responsible for the safety of one team member on a stretcher, both in the mud activity and on the night walk, scrambling up and down muddy slopes. To their credit, our year 10s reached into themselves and stepped out of their comfort zone to show that the team did matter and that they could succeed in supporting each other.

The learning about the importance of the whole group rather than just the individual is our step towards next year’s leadership activities where we emphasise that true leadership is about ‘service leadership’, working to serve the whole group. The camp also pushes the students to work with a randomly selected group rather than a friendship group, mirroring life in work teams after school. In this situation, girls come to know and value others in their group whom they may have never spoken to previously. This helps the cohort to become more united and eventually present a united presence as Senior Student Leaders of the school at the end of next year.

Whilst the camp was very much a learning experience, we hope that the students also enjoyed their time and can now reflect on the value of camp.