Friday 3 February 2017 Team 4 Camp 2017: important information
Dear parents and caregivers
Please find below the details for our Team 4 camp, to be held in Week 4 of this term.
Dates: Monday 20 February - Friday 24 February.
Location: Based at Palm Grove Christian Holiday Camp in Paraparaumu.
Cost: The cost for the week is $290:00 per student. We have done our best to keep this cost down. This money can be paid in full or in part payments to the school office. If you are unable to meet this cost, Jeremy Edwards is happy to discuss other options with you.
Transport: We will be picked up and dropped off from below the Team 4 classrooms on Northland Road by bus. We will depart on the Monday at 9:00am and will return on the Friday at around 2:00 pm. Children may be picked up at this time or can remain at school under supervision until 3:00pm.
Food: While on camp, students will be provided with all of their meals. The exception is on the first day, when they need to bring their own packed lunch from home. As in the past, we ask that each student also bring with them a container of home baking. This will be used for morning and afternoon teas and for supper. We request that no other food is brought on camp.
Accommodation: Students will be sleeping in cabins and/or tents. They will require warm sleeping bags, a warm blanket, a sheet and their own pillows. Please note that for health and safety reasons, all children must bring a sheet to place on the mattress. A fitted one is easy to use, but a flat sheet would be fine.
Permission form: This is attached and should be completed and returned to your class teacher by next Wednesday 8 February please.
Gear list: A list outlining the things children should bring on camp is attached. We ask that you encourage your child to take responsibility for organising and packing their own belongings. Please remember to include any necessary medication, clearly named and labelled. While we are hoping for a week of fine weather, we do emphasise the need for a proper waterproof jacket, as we will be spending a lot of time outdoors and most activities will go ahead regardless of the weather. If they are available, waterproof trousers are also highly recommended. It is important that children bring two pairs of shoes; at least one of which should be suitable for walking over uneven terrain. We do expect that one pair of shoes will get wet so the second dry pair becomes very important.
Students will take a 1B5 exercise book to be used as a camp diary. Year 8s may use their diary from last year if there is enough space left in it.
We ask that students do not bring electronic equipment or valuables, including cell phones. The exception is cameras, which may be brought at the child’s own risk, and not brought if it is also a phone. Should there be any reason your child needs to contact home, the staff will have phones available, and in an emergency can be contacted on 021 207 1161.
Tents
As you are aware, our Team 4 camp is just 2 school weeks away!! At camp we like to give students the opportunity to try ‘camping’. We require several tents and bedrolls to make this happen. If you have a robust tent that is larger than a pup tent and are happy to lend it for the week, we’d very much appreciate having the use of it. We will also need mallets for hammering in tent pegs. We will take good care of these. Please send a note or email to Alex if you are able to lend a tent.
Bedrolls
We require a small number of foam bedrolls, or students may bring a thin self-filling air mattress if you have one as all students will have a turn at sleeping out in a tent. If you do not have a mattress please do not buy one, we have several at school and we only need a few more to cater for approximately 24 campers per night. Students can let Alex know if they have one to bring please (we will be sharing these).
Camp Concert
In the past we have held a camp concert on the Thursday night. We have assessed our camp needs and have decided not to hold a concert evening for parents. We have such an active and busy program that children do not get the required time to produce items. We will continue to run the Photo Challenge, and hope to use our new blog to share these with you. If we are able to access the internet we might even be able to share photos during the week!!
Home Baking/food
While on camp, students will be provided with all of their meals. The exception is on the first day, when they need to bring their own packed lunch from home.
On the weekend before camp all students are asked to do some home baking. If they make muffins, cake or a food that won’t keep for long, please write this on the lid. An ice-cream container is excellent for transporting this, however any named container will be returned to you. Please note that the baking must be NUT FREE as we have several children in our care who are allergic.
Baking along with named, bagged medication is to be given to the class teacher in the class room on the morning before departure. No other food stuff should be brought to camp.
Whilst on camp we will be visiting two nature reserves: we are taking a boat trip with Kapiti Tours over to Kapiti Island. We will also visit Nga Manu in Waikanae where we will observe a range of native flora and fauna.
The parents who are joining us to assist for part or all of the week are:
Adam Simpson, Sarah McKenzie, Philip Clarke, Andy Carruthers, Sean Antrobus, Luke Hassell, Mike Williams, Greg Smith, Linda Cook, Jo Gilbert, Kylie Redgrave, Sarah Maxwell/ Jon Schicker, Charlotte/Jamie Schaefer. We thank them for their very generous offer and for the time and energy they give, and also thank those of you who very kindly offered to assist.
We look forward to seeing those of you who are able to attend our information evening on Wednesday 15 February at 6:15 in the school library.
Alex, Fiona and Katie