The Year 6 students from Century Park Campus recently returned from their Year 6 Camp, held at Nanbei Hu in Zhejiang province by an outdoor activities specialist company. As part of the school’s holistic education and Physical Education (PE) programme, the annual four-day, three-night excursion focuses on developing students’ social responsibility, tolerance, co-operation, independence, and improving their outdoor and adventure activities skills.

Mr Dale Mills, Head of PE at Century Park Campus, helped lead this year’s camp. He says, "The Year 6 Camp this year was another positive experience for our students. While participating in a variety of fun but challenging activities, our students practised their teamwork, leadership, and communication skills with their fellow classmates. It is important to teach our students these skills as they prepare for Secondary next year, where they will have more independence and responsibility."

Throughout the four days, the group participated in many fun activities that focused on challenging students and building their teamwork skills. Activities included wilderness skills and shelter building sessions, kayaking, a “leap of faith” rope activity, rock climbing, team catapult building, hiking, team spirit chanting, and team flag painting. The students even shared stories and laughter around a campfire, and enjoyed delicious food at a barbeque dinner during the last night of the camp.

Once back at YCIS, the Year 6 students reflected upon their educational excursion, saying:

“Camp was one of the best places I can remember; maybe it was because I was with my friends, or maybe because it had activities that I really enjoyed. Every day we had a varied amount of activities, including kayaking, rock climbing, and the ‘Leap of Faith’. My favourite activity was rock climbing. It looked easy but it was much harder than I thought. Once you got on it, it was hard to find the right spot on the rock! Overall, camp was super fun, as well as challenging and a learning opportunity,” said Annie.

“Going to camp was one of the best experiences of my life! It helped me overcome my fears. For example, there was this activity called the‘Leap of Faith’. You had to climb to the top of a pole, gather up your courage, then try your best to jump and grab on to a bar. My most memorable activity was when we had a barbeque on our last night. We grilled lamb, chicken, pork, beef, and broccoli, and for dessert we grilled marshmallows! I loved camp!” said Hui Mei.

“Year 6 Camp was an exciting four-day event spent away from home. There were numerous activities that were both educational and thrilling. My personal favourites were kayaking, the ‘Leap of Faith’ jump, and the campfire.The days I spent at Year 6 Camp really helped me build my independence, patience, teamwork, and leadership, by building shelters, group games, and much more. I would like to thank YCIS for such a wonderful experience!” said Bethany.