Leadership In Action

Wednesday, 16th November 2022 at 10:30am

There will be some weary teens looking forward to the comforts of home this weekend, having recently returned from their Year 10 Leadership in Action camp.

Over the past two weeks, students have taken part in a two-day camp, as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. Pre-requisites to take part in the Leadership in Action course include being interested in the outdoors and having a commitment to developing leadership potential.

Teacher Edd James wrote the following review (Camp 1)

Leadership in Action was put to the test on our Duke of Edinburgh overnight tramp. We arrived at 6.30 am to school to complete our final packing and set off down to Karangahake Gorge. We started the walk from the Waikino Train Cafe and headed off down past the old mining ruins. We stopped off at the Owharoa Falls and then headed to the 1km tunnel where we had lunch under the bridge to the tunnel. Stone skipping became the new competition to get as many as you could. We then headed off through the tunnel and then back to the vans. When we got to camp, we were greeted with a massive covered shed, hot water and flushing toilets. Tents went up quickly and dinner was on. Some enjoying steak bacon burgers with coleslaw and sausages with ciabatta buns were also on many menus. Dessert was meant to be at the campfire but due to the weather we used the gas cookers to toast our marshmallows (it did end up looking like a science experiment on who could not burn theirs).

Day 2 started with the expected rain at 1 am and didn't stop until we finished the hike. We started the day with a good breakfast and then packed up for the day ahead. We started our hike along the Dubbo 96 track which was a steep climb and then the ridgeline walk to a steep descent. The weather made things slow and steady, but all stepped up and we were able to arrive on time at the Karangahake Gorge main car park. We all got into warm dry clothes and then headed for Paeroa for hot food, and some had frozen drinks. We arrived back to school early and then unpacked, cleaned up and went home for a hot shower. Overall, it was a good time we will never forget.