Students from 9GATO share their experience at the Stars Mahi Tahi day in Anakiwa as part of the Stars Programme.

During the day our whole whānau class got a lot closer together and we gained more respect for each other and ourselves. The instructors were so helpful, motivating and very inspiring…great at pushing us to our limits!

Doing rafting first set the mood for the day. Rafting was a great activity to learn teamwork and get to know each other and how we work best together. We loved rafting.

During rogaine we learnt to be kind and positive while still being competitive. We also loved getting to know our surroundings at Outward Bound.

Everyone in our class absolutely loved the adventure-based learning. We learnt a lot about communication, trust, and how to reach out for help. We also learnt how to talk to each other if we have any problems. We even learnt how people can seem really happy on the outside but on the inside they can be feeling down and even just one unintentional unkind comment that was taken the wrong way can tip someone over the edge – and the differences between empathy and sympathy.

Lighting fires was a great hit among the girls in our class. We loved learning about how to survive in nature with very limited resources. It was super cool to learn to make fire with just magnesium and flint.

We were so lucky to be able to go jetty jumping, it was a highlight of the day and we couldn’t have ended it in a better way. We were so excited to go for a last swim and were very grateful we had enough time for this at the end of the day!

Teamwork was a big part of the day and we learnt a lot about how to work together. This was super great because it helped to bring out the best in ourselves and in each other. Overall we got a lot more comfortable and brave around each other and really learnt to be ourselves. We had lots of fun and we really do feel like a whānau now.

We all just wanted to say a big thank you for making this day possible.