Our Camp 2013 - Day 1

Hip! Hip! Snore. 5am is the wake up call for our Year 7’s today, the first day of camp. Today called for an early start because we had to be at the East Perth train station (a 15 min drive but add about 20 minutes for traffic from Wattle Grove) by 6:30 Monday morning. Why? Because our teachers needed to account for us and we also needed to board the train for a 7:00am departure on the Prospector. After about 7 long hours of the interesting scene of … Trees! (with a few salt lakes along the way), we arrived at our destination of, well, Kalgoorlie of course. It was pretty hot, compared to the air-conditioned train we were in. We had 2 large buses and 1 small bus, in which we had to but all of our luggage into to. I must say, 'go room 10" for being the first to have all our luggage in our bus, out of all three classes. Then after having to wait along time in a hot bus for the other 2 classes to be ready, we set off on a short drive to the Goldfields Camp School. When we arrived at the camp school, we had a quick brief about the history of the school and the rules of the school and then we went off to our dorms to unpack. There were 2 dorms for boys and 2 dorms for girls. The dorm names are C.Y O’Connor, Flanagan and Shea, Bailey and Ford and Paddy Hannon. I was in C.Y O’Connor with the rest of the girls for room 10 along with Codi from room 15. At about 3:00 that afternoon, we went back in to our buses to go out to the Superpit look out. We got to the lookout and EVERYONE! was gobsmacked at the size of the Superpit it was GINORMOUS! Infact it is 3.5km long, 1.5km wide and 570m deep. We had some pictures on some of the mines truck tyres and on the bucket of a loader from the mine and both objects were pretty big too. Then we went back to camp to talk, play and run around until some of us had to go set up for the lovely dinners we were being provided with. We all had a delicious dinner, followed by a scrumptious dessert, which was then followed by the hilarious movie “Despicable Me 2”. Finally after one long day, we got to get ready for bed and then go to sleep. By Taylor and Merenia

Our Camp 2013 - Day 2

Today the wake up call was 7am, slightly better than the day before, it was this early because breakfast was at 7:30am, but the lucky people who had to set up breakfast had only 15 minutes to get ready. After Breakfast, we had a quick talk about what we were doing today. When that was over, we loaded onto our buses and off to our days activity. This included, a walk up the hollow and historical Hannon street, with a tour guide giving us plenty of historical notes and facts about the many different bulidings that are over 100 years old. On our way up to the Kalgoorlie WA Museum, we stopped briefly for morning tea (or recess), then we headed into the museum to learn about gold and how the Kalgoorlie pioneers lived in the 20th century. Then we bused back to the camp for lunch and got ready for our next exciting activity that would be taking place that day. This activity is a KCGM (Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines) tour. The tour involves learning about the expenses of running a mine like the costs of the truck, which is around $4 million for a dump truck and $42 000 for just one simple tire for the trucks, and going into a lookout in the mine so we can see what it is like for the miners. The group that wasn’t in the mine went up to the Superpit gift shop and had a look in one of the mines dump trucks and watched a short movie about the blasts that happen in the mines around 3 times a week. Whilst we were at the mine, we found out that there was going to be some blasting taking place later on that day. So, after a short break at camp and a chance to get out of our long pants and jumper that we had to wear in the mine, we went back up to the Superpit for the blasting that was meant to take place that day at 4pm. A lot of us took video’s of the two blasts that took place, others just watched it. Subsequent to that even,t we had dinner and met back in the dining hall for a quiz night, it was all pretty much general knowledge along with a few rounds of knowledge about Kalgoorlie, which we have been studying in class. As well as music rounds, which is obviously all about different music artists and classic/modern songs. Once that was over and the winning team was announced, everyone got ready for bed and eventually went to bed with about an hour free time before that, which a lot of us spent talking, singing, playing and having lots of fun in our dorms. When finally at about 9:45pm the teachers called lights out so we all had to sleep. Although, some people had different ideas and decided to keep on talking which kept us all up for a while longer. Than eventually we all got some sleep. By Taylor and Merenia

Our Camp 2013 - Day 3

Today was probably the busiest day of the week. Today, we got up at the usual time of 7, spent 15 minutes getting dressed and waking ourselves up. Of course, sharing the strange dreams that we might have had the night before. At 7:15, the helpers got called to the dining room and Group C (Mr Sherlocks group) got called out to the fire for our Bush Breakfasts. For the Bush Breakfast, we were making a type of toasted sandwich, called a jaffle. We were doing this, using jaffle irons, there was a selection of ingredients, such as: Skippy (kangaroo), Baked Beans, Bacon, Eggs, tomato sauce, barbeque sauce and Cheese. We could use as much or as of different ingredients as we wanted. In any order except, the cheese, which had to be in the middle of the jaffle. We then closed and latched the iron and walked over to the fires, where we would be cooking them. We put the jaffles into the heat of the fire and walked back to get plates, as we were only allowed to do one thing at a time. We then turned over the jaffle and waited a minute or two, then carefully took the jaffles out. Sharon cut off the crusts and took them out of the jaffle irons for us. We lent the irons onto a rock and went, collected our jaffle, then went to sit down and enjoy them. They were very nice and everyone enjoyed them. After the bush breakfast, we had just enough time to go and get ready for the days adventures, which we were all very excited about. To kickstart our day’s activities, we went to Lake Douglas to do some gold panning. We couldn’t wait to get started. First off, we had to get into groups and go collect as close to, two handfuls of a gold-containing mineral called Quarts. We then got showed how to crush the quarts in a big cylindrical pot called a ‘Dolly Pot’ into a very fine powder. We then emptied the contents into a plastic-type bowl, you then put a little bit of water, slosh it around and carefully empty the water out and hopefully spot some gold in the groves of the pan, where it should get caught. Some people were very lucky and found multiple pieces of gold. Others weren't so lucky and didn't find any. After this, we had a scrumptious morning tea, a got into new groups for our next activity of bush humpy building. Our task was to build a humpy out of natural materials, that could fit every person from our group inside of it. We also had to make up a song and dance to advertise our humpy, as if we were selling it. Following this, we got into our buses and headed to Coolgardie Park for lunch. Following lunch, we headed over to the town hall, just down the road from Coolgardie Park,, where we met up with our tour guide named Vic. The first thing we did with Vic was have a history lesson, whilst he past around a 3 ounce gold nugget that he had found, we then followed him into the amazing Coolgardie Town Hall. Inside the main part of the hall was a fantastic painting done to look like the curtains and props onstage. A lot of us believed it for a bit until we were told that it was actually a painting. We then went to many different places to learn about people and places of Coolgardie’s history. These included: Jack Cairns Humpy, Coolgardie Cemetery, Warden Finnerty’s house, Coolgardie’s Tourist Bureau, a museum and an extra little treat was thrown in for us as well. We went over the road and met Vic’s friend who had a collection of some signs and souvenirs of the past. Subsequent to this, we got to go home and have a rest before dinner later in the evening, which was followed by a very fun Games Night, before we were off to bed, before our last full day in Kalgoorlie. By Taylor and Merenia

Our Camp 2013 - Day 4

Today we awoke once again at 7am, we had 30 minutes to get changed ready for breakfast. Hematites set up the breakfast this morning, although group A & B had a bush breakfast. Our group had a continental breakfast with poached eggs and baked beans. Our bags were packed and ready, so all we had to do was grab them and jumped on the buses. Today we were to be playing Two Up. Two up is basically, just heads or tails but it is betted on with another person. With each round, the price went up to be involved. Everyone was handed $50 fake money to start with. The rounds started at only $10 a bet although it wasn't long until our first person was on the losers bench (Jarrod - MW was first). We both got out in the later rounds of the day but eventually Peace was the winner. Heads came more often than tails but every time you thought there was a pattern it always changed. We had morning tea before we split in to our groups. This time we were in group AB, so we went to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). First off we watched a short clip about the history of the RFDS. We asked a few questions before heading outside to the hangar. In the hangar, there was one of the two planes which were used to transfer patients to Perth or over East for emergency surgery. Everyone had a chance to have a look inside the plane, but we had to go one at a time as it is small and there is one million dollars worth of medical equipment inside. Once we got the other group from the Weather Bureau, we headed to Hammond Park for lunch. We didn't have long to eat and once we'd eaten, our group headed to the Weather Bureau. Our guides name was Jenny and she showed us the multiple different technological weather instruments. We got to see her release a weather balloon full of hydrogen which gives us windspeed, air pressure and wind direction data. This information is then transfered to the pilots for a weather update. We then left the Weather Bureau and met the other group at the Loopline Museum. We also had a chance to stand on the old trains that will be up and running in 2014. After the museum, we went to the Boulder Town Hall. Inside was a 3-D painting, which we all thought was real. We also had a look at the honour board from WWI of the soldiers that came from Kalgoorlie, Boulder and Coolgardie. We also saw graffiti from famous actors and singers who had performed over 100 years ago. From here we went to Mt Charlotte and walked to the top where we could see all of Kalgoorlie as well as the water reservior which givse Kalgoorlie and its neighbours fresh water to drink. After trekking back down Mt Charlotte we re-boraded our buses and went back to the camp school for a little bit of free time to play basket ball, talk and relax in our dorms doing whatever we wanted, as long as it was sensible. After about an hour, Mafic's were called to the dining hall to set up for dinner. 15 minutes later everyone was called to the dining hall for dinner. After dinner we had an hour to shower and practice our acts for the spectacular 'Wattle Grove's Got Talent". The talent show had many wonderful acts, it included: comedians, singers, singing groups, and group performances. It was a wonderful 1 1/2 hour of laughing and have a great time being envious of all the wonderful singers. The night was compared by Mrs Lavery, judged by Mr Sherlock, Miss Lavery and Mr Sanderson who loved giving out 2's and making jokes when he did. 4th place went to Steve'n'Steve (Connor and Tristan). There were 3 joint winners, which were: Sweet'n'Sour (Rico & Amelia), GT (Ashliegh, Akira, Awaliah and Evie) and Jayme. Congratulations to all of them. Taylor and Merenia

Our Camp 2013 - Day 5

Today is our last day in Kalgoorlie and we awoke to Mr Sanderson singing opera. Before breakfast we had 45 minutes to pack up and change. We then strolled down to the dining room, previoulsy having been set up by the Laterites. We were treated to another continental breakfast which included spaghetti and eggs. There were lots of excited chatter, as many of us were anxious to get through the days activities and get on the train home to our parents. It wasn't long before everyone hopped onto the buses to Karkulia Park. On the arrival we were greated by Anjei,who was our guide for the days outing, in which she explained how the day was to be run. We spilt into our groups of AB & C. We were with group C, our tour guide was a gardener. We looked at many different trees, native to the area and learnt about their different appearances, traits as well as taste of the non - poisonous ones. We also had the opportunity to plant and name a tree. All this time we had been making our way towards a lookout, in which you could see multiple kilometers in every direction. We then began our long trek back to our buses, although we had to wait a while as the other group were still at the look out. Once the other group arrived, we climbed aboard the buses and headed to Hammond Park for lunch. At Hammond Park we ate lunch, got frightened by peacock's, emu's, and kangaroo's. Afterwards we had some time to ourselves on the play ground. We then hopped back onto the buses to head to Hannan St for some last minute shopping. After Hannan St, we went to Coles and everyone bought some food for the train ride home. We travelled back to the camp school for a debrief and to collect our bags. A final farewell and thank you was said to the camp school staff, before beginning our long journey home. It wasn't lomg before we boarded the train and settled in to our seats for our 3pm departure for an arrival of 9.45pm in Perth. At exactly 6pm, we were handed our packed dinners which was a salad with some meat, a bread roll finished with a lovely brownie for dessert. When we reached Perth, our parents eagerly awaited us and we quickly left for our homes. I can guarantee we had a quiet trip home with a very long sleep. By Taylor and Merenia

Year 7 Reflection

Year 7 has been a long journey, one that was exciting, fun and even inspirational. I'm glad to be here today sharing many memories with you. To start with I'd like to give a huge thank you to the P & C. The mass amounts of fundraising they have done for our camp this year. The fundraising was well worth it, as the camp was amazing. I am aware that the camp was only made possible because of the big help you gave us. So thank you. Thank you to our principals, Ms Roberts and Mrs Mackenzie for keeping the school well run and in line. You were a great help and support throughout the year and I can't thank you enough. To my teachers, you are responsible for the graduates here today. Who we are today was greatly influenced by the help and support we have received from you throughout the year. All the help is greatly appreciated, thanks to you, many of us are going to walk in to high school a little less nervous, a little more confident. For the parents, without you none of this would be possible. We wouldn't even be standing here today. I know we are super difficult at times, but, we appreciate you more than you know, we just aren't good at showing it. Last of all the graduates, thank you for making year 7 the best year of my life. This journey has been made enjoyable with your brightness and energy. I don't know what I would've done without you. Thankyou and I wish you all the best.\ By Taylor

Room 10 Assembly Item

In Room 10, we recently did our assembly item for the year on bullying. Our performance was a song written by Kate Miller-Heidke, it is about a boy named James, who was not liked by anyone. One day he met Kate and they enjoyed talking together, until the bullies came along and started to bash him up. As Kate walked past, she turns her back on him. Today she regrets her actions and this is how the song was written. The song won the National Song Writing Award. Room 10's stars were Aaron as James, Jayme as Kate, Taylor and I were the speakers, Shanjana, Peace and Holly were bullies including Jarrod, Tekarni and Khaled were also our bullies. Two parents from the junior assembly saw our item and asked Mrs Mackenzie if we could do our item at the junior’s assembly because it had such a strong message in it. Written By Simon

Cross Country

On Friday, Week 2, we had our Faction Carnival cross country competition. Previously, we had a trial run to see if we could run the distance. There weren’t many students racing in the seniors but the juniors had a lot more competition as most of them ran. Three people from our class ran at the carnival, Khaled, Merenia and I. All of us were in the senior races therefore, we were the last to race. Our course began at the starting track of the 100m, from there, we ran around the footy posts and around a tree further down. Once past the tree, we ran past the other footy posts and in to the school, past the staff room, the flag poles, around another tree and back out the gates to start again from the footy posts. We completed this two times and the third time we ran down the 200m track. Khaled finished 8th in his race, Merenia finished 16th in the race and I won my race. So after that, I went to interschools because I was in the top three year sevens. So the next Friday, I went to interschool sport at Dawson Park PS. Their course was much harder, so at first we ran almost all the way around the oval, around some markers to go up a hill and then around and on to a track where there was only room for one person. We ran down that track for awhile and it twisted to eventually come out at a small hill almost just an incline and from there we ran ¾ of the oval. The oval was HUGE. So my race was second last and I anxiously awaited the start. I calmed my nerves by making jokes with the other two year sevens Evie and Codi. Finally, my race started and it started pretty quickly, so I just hung in the middle and I remember as we went through the markers I had a look where I was. I was sitting 7th but I decided I wanted to move up so when we raced up the hill I moved from 3rd to 2nd. We ran along a track with only really room for one person so I waited to the next incline to take the lead. When I did, I picked up the pace because I figured she would catch me. I ran all the way to the finish and as I ran down the straight I saw my mum. I remember as I finished, mum pointing behind me and I turned to see Codi finishing 2nd. We stood on the podium. I felt so proud and I was happy for Codi, that bus ride was one of the best bus rides ever. To top it all off Wattle Grove won the cross country shield. Written by Taylor

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Faction Training

In Week 2, Term 3, our four factions started faction training. We have been teaching the students in our faction’s five team games. The five team games are tunnel ball, pass ball, flag relay, circle ball and wheel relay. So far it has been a success with the junior and intermediate students but not the senior students, as we have not been able to train them yet due to the wet weather. On Mondays at lunch time, we train the junior students and on Tuesdays we train the intermediates. We also train the senior students on Thursday and on Friday we have a fun day. Most of the younger students are very enthusiastic, where as the older students aren’t so much. The faction carnival is held on the 6th of September and the pre-primary and kindergarten is held on the 28th of August. As well as having faction training at lunch, the senior students all go out on a Monday between recess and lunch to try out for a lot of the team events. Written By Genisa and Aaron

Year 7 Kalgoorlie Camp Fundraisers 2013

This term (term 3) and last term the Year 7’s and their teachers, along with some parent help from the schools P&C, have started to fundraise for the Year 7 camp next term. So far, we have done a Fluro Day in term one, sausage sizzle and we are now selling muffins and coffee of hot chocolate for $2.50. Next Friday (6th September) we are also holding a sausage sizzle during the Faction carnival and students and teachers will be able to order lunch that day. We also have a quiz night and silent auction coming later on this term. The Quiz night is being held on Friday 20th of September, with tables of 8, $10 per ticket, it will be held at the Hartfeild Park Country Club. The Silent Auction will be held on the night. The door will open at 6.30 pm and the quiz night will start strictly at 7.00pm that night. Hope to see you there! Written By Merenia

YEAR 7 CAMP

We are becoming excited about our up and coming camp. We will be staying at the Goldfields Camp School, Kalgoorlie. Our camp will start with a train ride on the Prospector, travelling early in the morning to Kalgoorlie. During our week at camp, we will be visiting the Superpit, Royal Flying Doctor service, KCGM, Hannon's North and also spending an afternoon with Kambalda Primary School's Year 7 students.
The countdown is on 14 Weeks and 3 Days to go.

2013 camp parent night2 from Sensationalsevens

SENSATIONAL   SEVENS

Welcome to Wattle Grove Primary for another year. Room 10 is so excited to have the opportunity to create a "BLOG" account for 2013.