by Kalesha Segatta

Year 5&6 Activities Week

As you will be aware, our Year 5 and 6 activities week will take place from Monday 5th December to Friday 9th December. This article is quite long but please persevere. In this article, we provide details about the El Rancho Camp option, including the gear list, as well as the ‘Out and About’ in Wellington option (for students who choose to stay at school). There is also a consent form that we ask all parents to fill out (even if your child chooses to stay at school).

COVID CONTINGENCY

If we have no choice but to cancel the camp due to Covid related reasons, you will receive a full refund of the camp cost and we will look to have an activities week in Wellington. Currently, our camp can go ahead at any alert level and we will adhere to the health and safety practices including the regular washing/sanitising of hands, social distancing and wearing masks where necessary.

EL RANCHO CAMP INFORMATION

The location for this camp will be El Rancho, Waikanae. We will be staying here. Please follow this link to their website.

Our camp will run from Monday 5th December to Friday 9th December.

Overview of the Timetable: At this stage, we will be partaking in a range of activities whilst at El Rancho. These include:

  • Archery

  • Kayaking

  • Bivouac Building

  • Wilderness Survival

  • Rock Wall Climbing

  • Confidence Course

  • Low Ropes

  • Ball Sports

  • Waterslide and Pool

Please note that all of these activities are age-appropriate and any higher risk activities will have camp instructors leading them. The rough outline of camp is as follows:

Image by: Kalesha Segatta

Travel: On Monday 5th December, we will travel by bus from Amesbury School to El Rancho, leaving at approximately 11:00am. Given that we are not departing until 11:00am, we ask that students arrive at school between 8:30am and 8:45am as per usual. We will then check we have all students present, check that they have their gear and engage in some pre-camp activities.

On Friday 9th December, we will travel by bus from El Rancho to North City TenPin in Porirua where we will play some games of bowling. Then, we will travel by bus back to Amesbury School in the afternoon. We will be arriving back at Amesbury at approximately 4:30pm.

Cost: The total cost of the camp per child is $300. This includes transport costs, accommodation, food, camp activities and bowling.

Camp Payment Schedule:

For all those attending camp, a deposit of $50 is required no later than Friday 27 May.

The balance of the $300 camp cost must be paid by Friday 30th September

If parents prefer, they can pay on the following schedule:

  • $50 first payment by Friday 27th May (deposit)

  • $50 second payment by Friday 24th June

  • $100 third payment by Friday 12th August

  • $100 fourth payment by Friday 30th September

You should make your payments using Kindo, the school’s online shop. If you haven’t used this yet, here’s the link. You will need to register the first time you use the shop, and then top up your account so you have credit. By the end of next week, the invoice for the Years 5 & 6 Camp will be available for payment. You can either pay the full amount, or overwrite the amount as per the above schedule.

Please note your child will not need any money for this trip as all activities will be at camp.

Gear List: Please find the gear list attached.

ADULTS ON CAMP:

We will be taking Pōhutukawa teachers on camp with us. 

As always, parent help is needed and appreciated for camp to go ahead. The camp that we are attending requires a ratio of 1 adult to 10 students so we will be looking to take up to 4 parents on camp with us. Please note that the number of parents we take will depend on the number of students who opt to join us for the camp. While we would love to include everyone, costs and space prevent us from doing so - we have a maximum number of additional parents we are able to take on camp with us.

Please note that there will be a cost of $300 for each parent who is attending camp. This is a change to our normal procedure - we have not charged parents for camp in previous years. However, the increasing cost of camp and travel, as well as the number of adults we need to take to meet health and safety requirements, has significantly increased the overall cost of the camp.

There is a section on the consent form regarding parental help on camp. If you are interested in attending camp please indicate this on the form. After the form completion deadline (Friday 27th May) we will notify all parents who have expressed an interest in attending the camp to let you know of our final decision. All parents attending will be required to undergo a NZ Police vetting clearance.


OUT AND ABOUT IN WELLINGTON (for students staying at school)

Students will spend some time out and about in Wellington and some time doing fun activities at school. There will be no overnight stays.

Overview of Timetable: We are still finalising the details for the day trips. The timetable for the week will be as follows:

Monday: Wheels day at Pukehuia Park in Newlands

Tuesday: Day at Otari-Wilton’s Bush

Wednesday: Te Papa Exploration

Thursday: Botanical Gardens and Cable Car Trip

Friday: Activities at school

Transport: For all trips off-site, students will travel by private vehicle to the various trip locations with teachers accompanying them. If we have more students than vehicle space, we will need to ask for parent support. We expect to be back at school each day before 3:00pm for a normal pick up.

Cost: The cost for Out and About in Wellington will be approximately $20. However, we will confirm this with you once we have finalized all details.


CONSENT FORM

We need all parents to fill out this form to help with our activities week organization. Basically, this form is asking you to indicate whether your child is going on camp or staying at school.

Please click on this link to fill in the consent form by Friday 27th May.


If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards,

The Pōhutukawa Team