Around the Grounds

Happy Friday, everyone,

Homestead Camps Week at Senior Campus is coming to an end and we have the photos. From inside the classroom to far-flung places up and down the East Coast, from Junior to Senior, we have it all.

To Read: 'Impact and Change,' a wrap-up of Woodleigh's first Threads of Belonging Exhibition and Artist Bursary.
To Know: Student Free Day for everyone – don't forget – Labour Day, Monday 9 March.

Homestead Camps Week at Senior Campus 

Homestead Camps Week is early in the year, for good reason. Years 7 and 8 head off together, as a Homestead, for a giant adventure with their teachers. Homestead Camp is one of the core times they make friends and memories that last a lifetime. Each Homestead heads to either Waratah Bay, Cape Paterson, Torquay, Anglesea or Inverloch.  

The Year 9s are Outward Bound. Exploring the hills, crags and streams of the Snowy River region. 

If that's not enough, the Senior Homestead (Year 11 and 12) spreads out everywhere from Tasmania to Melbourne, Gippsland, Great Ocean Road, Victorian High Country, Narooma, Sydney, Sapphire Coast and more. 

We have photos from below the surface to high in the sky. 

Meanwhile, back in the classroom

Sometimes it’s nice to get a glimpse of everyday life. So what does a regular day at Penbank look like? It looks fun, that's what it looks like! Here are moments from different year levels, just being school kids

And down the road to Minimbah

In Years 5 and 6, students move into Homestead, a purpose‑built part of the school designed just for them, at both Junior Campuses. It marks a levelling up – a new sense of belonging, greater independence and real leadership. They lead their school community, mentor younger students who, one day, will come into the space after them to stretch their own confidence and capabilities. This is the beginning of their Homestead journey that will take them all the way through to Year 12. By the time they move from Year 6 to Senior Campus, they begin Year 7 socially secure, academically prepared and emotionally ready.

Here is a day in the life of the Minimbah Homestead. 

And back out of the classroom again

Our dear friends from Wugubank have spent the week with us at Penbank and around Melbourne – staying with families and building friendships that will spark again when our Year 6s visit Beswick later this year. On Tuesday, they joined their Year 6 friends at Point Leo, and as a bonus, the Years 3 and 4 groups were there preparing for their camp. Here are a few moments from the week.

To Read

Morning Meetings and Assemblies

Penbank and Minimbah's Thursday mornings are for whole school student-led morning meetings or assemblies, depending on which campus you call home. They vary in format, but the idea is to come together and share ideas, music, leadership, learning and stories.

Year 9s on Outward Bound

Outward Bound is a Rite of Passage, journey-based expedition that takes Year 9s to the Buchan and Snowy River Region for seven days. The program is designed to give students time, space and circumstance to connect with themselves, their peers and the natural world. For one week, they immerse themselves in adventurous outdoor learning. And have the time of their lives while doing it. 

'Self-determination, resilience, communication, problem solving, goal setting, expanding their comfort zones and questioning their own intrinsic values' – Lucy Clapham, Outward Bound Camp Coordinator

Sign me up.

SIS Senior Soccer

The Senior Boys' Soccer was the sporting spectacle of the week. It was a home game and they um, hm, what's a polite way of saying they:
steamrolled the opposition, smashed them, crushed it, wiped the floor, made it look easy, obliterated, bulldozed, blew them out of the water?

Yeah, they won. 

Point Leo Camping

Year 3 and 4 Penbank kids set off for their first camp of the year, three days in Point Leo. For some, it's their first time away from home, for many, it's their first time in a tent. For all, it's just so exciting, nerve-racking, exhausting and a huge accomplishment. Campfires and stories, night walks, surf school, kite making, sand sculptures and beach cricket. Home, tired and happy by Friday.
Before they left, to ease them in, they spent a day at Point Leo doing experiments and digging around for treasure. 

Until we go Around the Grounds again next week...