Year 7 – Great Western Explorer
Introduction
The annual Year 7 Great Western Explorer to Lake Burrendong Camp is an extraordinary opportunity for Year 7 to come together and engage in activities and experiences that become a shared memory for the year group. It is through these activities which are central to Normanhurst Boys holistic education and shared memories, that Year 7 can learn cooperation and commitment to each other in a different context to an ordinary school day. The Year 7 Camp is the first extended opportunity for our students to begin to understand the motivation behind “Team Normo” which is central to the effort and commitment made by our Senior students as they work towards their HSC.
The Great Western Explorer to Lake Burrendong Camp is a multi-disciplinary academic and culturally authentic learning experience that immerses students in activities each day that include:
· investigating the geography, flora and fauna of the Blue Mountains;
· traveling through the Central Tablelands farming districts from Orange to Dubbo, NSW;
· visiting one of the oldest farms in Australia at Brucedale hosted by David Suttor for a Welcome / Acknowledgement of Country of descendants of the Wiradjuri Peoples and Brucedale farm ‘day in the life’ talk;
· story-telling and a direct historical connection to Aboriginal history, culture and the great Wiradjuri warrior ‘Windradyne’ on Country near his resting place;
· exercising through physical fitness, fun and self-development activities at the Lake Burrendong Sports and Recreational campus;
· discovering in Zoological seminars and exploring at Taronga Western Plains Zoo;
· learning about the NSW Justice system from time in the Old Dubbo Gaol;
· descending into the depths of Wellington Caves for exciting discoveries in the home of a Marsupial Lion and ‘Mega Chonk’ Skink!; and
· living a life in colonial Australia at the Bathurst Goldfields Museum and a Gold-panning adventure.
