The campus has been a hive of activity this week with students working hard as part of our Collective Potential program. In Collective Potential students choose one of four projects. The guideline for the four projects are that they in some way give to others, are a challenge to finish within the allotted time and most importantly can only be completed by working as a team rather than working as a group of individuals. There were four projects students were involved in over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Firstly, River Rescue where students worked out at the Ullina Landcare Reserve just out of Clunes. We have developed a partnership with Ullina Landcare and have been working on this site for a couple of years helping with the revegetation of Birches Creek. This week students weeded and watered trees and put in some picnic tables. The group did a fantastic job. Secondly, there was a group working on a walking path around the campus. This group created mosaic markers and put in posts to mark the walk. The third group worked on making frames and display boards and also collating photographs and other memorabilia for the Wesley @ Clunes 10-year celebrations. They were a very creative bunch and the final products are excellent. The fourth and final group were most of our music students who prepared a performance for a nursing home in Creswick and also conducted performances at Smeaton, Clunes and Learmonth Primary Schools. I listened to their practice performance here in the Bluestone Church and I was very impressed. We certainly have some very talented students. All students can feel proud of their achievements this week. Special thanks to the staff: Tim, Nin, Atrel. Rick, Kerry and Rob for the extra effort they put in this week especially in the hot conditions.

It has been a particularly hot week in Clunes and we have had to adapt our program to suit the conditions. There have been visits to local pools and many opportunities to just rest in the shade. We have allowed students to bring their mattresses into the downstairs area of the houses to sleep, which is cooler; they have behaved well and have coped very well with the hot conditions.

In Week 6 Group 40 will have focus days on Place and Time and Self. On the Self focus day students will complete a half-day Solo at the base of Mount Beckworth. Most students will have participated in Solo activities before during camps and other outdoor education trips. Solos are an excellent way to assist students to reflect on their experiences and make goals for the last couple of weeks of their Clunes journey. In Week 8 students will participate in a whole day Solo at the same site.

The Circus performers have chosen their apparatus and are seen all over the campus practicing with hoops, poi, contact juggling, Diablo, unicycles and spinning plates. This adds a lovely feel to the campus. The musicians are a talented bunch and last Performance Night we were given a taste of what they have to offer. We have another Performance Night this weekend. There are always great sounds coming from the Bluestone Church. Both Circus and Music are great avenues for students to express themselves and develop new talents and skills as part of their Clunes journey.

Students have really enjoyed the Visiting Weekends and the campus is always a buzz on Sunday nights with the sharing of stories. Thank you so much for your support. This weekend is the last visiting weekend and those students who are expecting family this weekend are very excited.

It is hard to believe we are over half way through the Group 40 Journey!

The Week 5 Wesley @ Clunes running program consisted of a 5km run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Due to the intense heat this week, the running classes were moved to earlier in the day when the sun was not warm. Getting up for a 6.40am start was very difficult for some. But once we were up and going we were all really enthusiastic for the run. As the early running days went by, everyone found it easier to wake up earlier, although we all still dreaded the morning run. When it got to Friday everyone was pumped up to complete a 5km run as well as an additional 10 minute hill run. The hill run made it very clear who the fitter runners were and who had to work a little harder. Most people finished the run at their own pace and kept their mental strength alive. Whether that mental strength will still continue in next week’s 5km hill circuit, it can only be assumed. We really enjoyed these morning runs and then had free time later in the hot afternoons.

The 3-day Collective Potential Program, River Rescue, was both a fantastic yet also unfortunate experience. Unfortunately the River Rescue team could not camp out at the bush site due to a few snake warnings and very long grass for this time of the year. Instead we just had to drive back to campus each night, and return to the site on the following day. We all enjoyed working outdoors in the countryside. For lunch we got to have a picnic together out in the country. It was a very relaxing time with very few city noises. In the three days the team managed to water and mulch 300 trees, place 3 picnic benches around the site, and have fun on the water slide to finish the Collective Potential Program. It was a fantastic and definitely memorable experience.

House Logistics is held every Wednesday and all houses attend. This is the time that the rosters and meals for the following week are organized. House Logistics was slightly different this week because of we had collective potential on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday so the logistics classes were brought forward to Monday. After we had done all our budgeting, shopping lists and decided who are cooks were going to be for the week we had a food challenge with a twist. Instead of eating or sampling various foods, we played a game that involved strategies and required the entire house to work together. The last person standing at the end of the game won a $10 voucher from the bakery for their house. Luckily a member from my house, Robbie won so we were all lucky to be able to share in this prize, a great sponge cake. We shared it for Theo’s birthday on Wednesday.

Saturday afternoon is a day that is designated for every house to spend the afternoon with their brother or sister house. There are many options and things you can do on or off campus with your House Leader. Most houses decided that last Saturday, because of the extreme weather, would like to go to pool and cool off. Other houses spent the afternoon relaxing on campus watching music videos and others decided to spend the afternoon in their houses just spending their quiet time together. Saturday afternoon is a very relaxed afternoon and is enjoyed by anyone on campus.

The heat struck Clunes in the second week of November. There were many flies and they have been very annoying. Many schedules in the usual program were changed due to the frying heat. The Running Program was moved from the afternoon at 4 o’clock session to 6 o’clock in the morning. Cluster Sport between red and blue on Monday was also cancelled and was moved to Tuesday. Many houses pulled the blinds down and blocked the windows with newspaper the fight the heat. It is recommended in these kinds of days to be well hydrated, wear hats, and sunscreen when stepping outside.

Yellow and Green Cluster played competitive games on Thursday, 12th of November. Each house approached the competition with chants, and coloured clothing which supports their team. Yellow closely took victory over the chants. Yellow again easily took victory in the next two games, which were “basketball passing” and “three pin bowling.” It was then when the Green cluster was about to loose hope when they won the Ultimate Frisbee game. It was a great victory with accurate passes around the court. The next game was basketball shooting and Green cluster caught up with Yellow by winning that game. Winning two games each, the winning team had to be decided with the silent walk home. Green cluster had won the silent walk getting to the community center and Yellow cluster had lost 15 point for behavior during the games, and so the probability of winning seemed to be more on Green than Yellow. But Yellow cluster still had hope of winning the silent walk getting back to the campus. It was great night. The winning team will be announced soon in the morning meeting.

The Fitness Program is run on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays every afternoon. A teacher runs it every time with a slide show in the background showing what to do next. Fitness is run at the same time as the running program and is more for muscle development. So during the workout we do things such as push-ups, sit ups, and crunches. Each week the work out gets harder and harder with more push ups and a smaller resting time. Fitness is for people who just choose to do it, for people who have an injury preventing them from running or that have been sick for too long meaning they would not be able to keep up with the runners. Due to the burning temperatures on Monday and Wednesday fitness was moved to 6:30 in the morning, which was too early for many of us!

The Collective Potential Program is a three-day program run from Tuesday to Thursday in Week 5. One of the choices was The 10-year Celebration. This was created to remember every student that has been at Clunes over the last ten years. In ten-year celebration frames were made in woodwork for tiles to be stuck on it with the picture and name of every student since 2000. We were split into two groups, one making the timber frames and the other group putting photos of each student onto a tile. This project was made a lot harder with the heat reaching thirty-five degrees most afternoons. But after a lot of work they were finished and ready for the tiles to be stuck down.

For the 10-year celebration in February 2010 we are having a wall of tiles on display. There will be one tile for each house has been at Clunes in the past 10 years, since Wesley at Clunes started. In total there have been 439 houses. We split up into two groups, one that made the frames for the tiles and the other group were the researchers who researched all the students that have been here and figured out which group and house they belong to. Then came the template making where we grouped all the students in their respective houses and then in groups. We used a special method to print onto these tiles.

There are a few animals at the Wesley @Clunes campus such as chicks and chickens. We have yellow chicks with one grey chick and a black chick. The little black chick apparently gets bullied, and we have a few brown-red feathered chickens, one grey-white chicken and a very big black chicken. Once the chicks escaped and we all had to go looking for them and they were found in the Hannah Street house and once some student’s let the chickens loose in a house. We also have a rabbit and some blue-tongued lizards around the campus.