This week has seen the Wesley at Clunes staff and students really shine and show what they are capable of when they work together.

Starting with the 10 Year Celebrations on Sunday, the staff and small group of students on campus can be extremely proud of the way they worked together to get the jobs done and support each other. The day ran very smoothly and I was so proud of how the students conducted themselves and got in and helped out wherever it was needed. The staff also put in huge amounts of extra hours to organize the event and I am extremely grateful for all their work. It was a wonderful day.

This week we also ran our Collective Potential Program. The aim is for students to see what they can achieve for others when they work together.

There were 3 projects students were involved in over Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Firstly, River Rescue – students camped out at the Lord Clyde 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 now to help with the revegetation of Birches Creek. This week students removed willows from the creek and helped fence off areas of the creek from stock. The group did a fantastic job. Thanks to Tim, Dan, Jane and Elissa who worked with the students over the three days.

Secondly there was a group working on making toys for the Clunes Pre School. They did a wonderful job and have created some toys for the playhouse area at the Kinder. Thanks to Michael and Atrel who supported the students in making the toys.

The final group were most of our music students who prepared a performance for an Aged Care Home in Creswick and also conducted performances at Smeaton, Talbot and Clunes Primary Schools. We certainly have some very talented students in Group 41. Thanks to Michelle and Dave, our music teachers, who worked with the music students over the three days and supported them through their practices and performances.

All students worked very hard and can feel proud of their achievements this week.

The students are now well and truly into their Clunes Projects. Essays are completed and students are working on their practical pieces. There is a diverse range of topics within three broad themes: Community, Rural Australia or Clunes. Students are now busy preparing for Presentation Day.

In Week 6, Group 41 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 Mt 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.

After such a big week Group 41 is feeling a little weary. The weekend ahead will be a time to slow down a little and spent time together and hopefully for most will involve a sleep in on Sunday morning.

On Sunday 28th Wesley held a celebration as it was Wesley’s 10th year at Clunes. It was an open invitation for past, present and future students and staff members to come down and enjoy the day. Fraser St was closed as there were stalls, shops and people walking in the middle of the road. Wesley also put on music in Collins Place and a live Circus show for all the kids. It was quite a fun day I had a lot of fun doing tours, where people would come into my house and I would explain how the whole program works and how the houses function. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and loved how some of my friends came up, it was really good how I got to see my family and friends.

From Tuesday to Thursday a group of students from the Wesley at Clunes community went to Birches Creek and camped out for three days and two nights. During that time we took branches out of the creek, built a fence and mulched baby plants. On the second night we had a campfire and toasted marshmallows and on the morning of the last day we had a slip n’ slide. As well as saving the environment we also met some new and interesting people who were working towards rescuing the creek the same way we were. We all learnt about our surroundings while we were there and became even more grateful for the fact that we could save a part of Clunes because as Joc Leishman explained, if we didn’t do it no one else would. Sharing a tent with three other people was an interesting experience, and a noisy one as I soon discovered. Being a part of River Rescue was very rewarding and I’ll never forget it.

While Paddy was trying to cook hamburgers I decided to search the net for a McDonalds Big Mac recipe. With three attempts I finally found a website and from there we were on the start of a mission. As we were running low on supplies we had to substitute for things. The first try at making the burgers went terribly wrong, so I had to step in and make things right. I added my chicken seasoning and onions, everyone was really happy with the meal. So overall we had to scrap the McDonalds idea. The hamburgers were served with salad and we really enjoyed it overall.

A daily routine in my house is getting ready for inspection in the morning and night, although we do it differently to most other houses. Once we come back from morning meeting we all hang out until the very last minute where we all rush around trying to get things done. As many teachers and various students will know, my house is a particularly social house so at night the routine is repeated. Although I find it amazing that we have only failed inspection once or twice because we always manage to work together, even when we’re not feeling the best.

This week I was involved with the music program called ‘what happens on tour’. It was a really good fun program. We went to many different schools around the area, driving there, setting up, performing and even signing autographs at the end! It was a bit nerve racking, but as I learned, a crowd really helps people perform. When you have 40 kids all dancing and playing around its much easier then 40 kids sitting there staring at you like you’re a tad weird. All in all everyone had a great time and really enjoyed performing in front of people. It was the experience of touring that really made performing enjoyable for me. I believe it’s a great program and should keep running well with other groups to come.

I learnt this week that you must check everything before you decide to do something. For example we wanted to play some quiet music late at night when we were supposed to, just to calm us down. Stupidly as it sounds, we didn’t realise that the music volume was on full. We have learnt from out mistake!

On Tuesday the 2nd of March we set off for three days to the bush to do a lot of work. We started by walking 9km out to the campsite and then we started our afternoon session of work. I went over to the other side of the creek and started by cutting Thornberry bushes. We could either choose to pull Thornberry bushes out or work on the campsite side and pull logs and sticks out of the creek to make it all clean. They were extremely prickly and got a lot of scratches on you by doing this job. The work was done for the day and we got to socialise all night. Most of the girls went off and played netball for the night which was heaps of fun. On Wednesday the 3rd of March we started work at 9am and we chose which side we wanted to work on. At 11:30am some people chose to make a fence around all of the log grass which was heaps of hard work moving things around the place but by far they were all very hard jobs to do. In the afternoon 4 kids from Clunes Primary School came and helped us mulch and water the plants that people have planted over the time. After the kids left we went over to the other paddock and did the same thing as we had done around the campsite. On Thursday the 4th of March we woke up helped make some pancakes for brekkie and started our mornings worth of work to be done. We could either work on the side of the campsite fencing or on the other side. We split up into 3 groups. Most of the people started on the campsite side and pulled out trees from the creek and used string to pull out some of the harder trees. After we had morning tea we all switched around apart from the fencing people. It was much more hard work than I thought that it would have been. We were pulling on a very tight rope most of the time and picking up lots of twigs and branches. After all of our work had been done we had a fun after noon by making a slip ‘n’ slide. We put tarps around sleeping mats and slid down the tarp. It was by far the best thing about River Rescue that I enjoyed the most and I got a bit cleaner after not having a shower for 2 and ½ days.

One of my most enjoyable moments of our house is when we get back from Running and fitness we get ice packs for each other and sit down with a cool ice pack behind our backs to cool us down. It is most enjoyable when you give to people and they appreciate it and return the favour.