It is another chilly, wet day in Clunes today. But the students are busy with circus, drama and music and there is a really lovely feel on campus.

Now we’ve come to the end of Week 6, Group 42 are very busy with their projects and there are some wonderful practicals being worked on. With Presentation Day just over a week away, students are working hard to finish these and fine-tune their circus, drama and music performances.

Unfortunately, due to the heavy rains earlier in the week we cancelled the Half Day Solo activity scheduled for Tuesday. Instead the students were given a well deserved morning in their houses to catch up. Students chose to work on their Projects, do a load of washing, read a book, etc. Although it was a shame we had to cancel the Half Day Solo I think that in some ways the timing of the morning rest was perfect. In the afternoon, Self classes continued as planned.

On Wednesday evening local community members were invited over for dinner in the student houses. Feedback from all of the locals gave nothing but praise for the students’ cooking, conversations and their maturity.

On Thursday the focus for the day was Place and Time. Students were given an overview of the history of the local area in the first week of term and then chose a particular time in history to explore further over the term. Yesterday the groups came together to share what they had learnt and to showcase the work they had produced. Students produced a variety of displays, artwork and short films to share with each other.

On Presentation Day an exhibit of this Place and Time work will be on display at the Hannah Street House. I encourage you all to make the time to view the wide array of presentations. There is high anticipation surrounding Presentation Day next weekend (Sunday 6 June). Please check your emails Tuesday morning for information on start and end times, where your child will be presenting and the running order of the day. Presentations will commence at 10am sharp, so please be on time as it can be quite an anxious wait for already nervous students.

On a variety of Sunday afternoons students take part in an environmental elective. Last Sunday around 20 students took part in the elective Bikes to Beckworth, which is where they ride as a pack 10km to Mt.Beckworth and 10km back, all up completing a 20km bike ride. The group was all very enthusiastic about doing the ride. Before the ride the students were given the safety talk to make sure that they would participate in a safe manner and still could have fun. As the ride started the students who didn’t feel as confident lead the pack and the more experienced riders rode at the back. The way to Beckworth was easier than the way back as there was a lot of down hill riding which was fun. As the ride progressed students enjoyed encouraging each other as it made riding together much more fun. As we were getting closer to Mt.Beckworth, there was a massive hill which we had to ride down. The hill was very slippery and was very steep; this made it dangerous to ride down. Fortunately, the group all made it safely to the bottom and had fun going down such a steep hill. When we were almost to our halfway destination we started to get a few injuries which was a shame, but as such a strong pack they pushed through and arrived at the halfway mark. The halfway mark was a beautiful dam which made a nice place for lunch, and a good spot to get rested up for the ride back! After lunch the group packed up and headed off on their bikes. They had a few huge hills to overcome but once the hills were completed the group felt very proud of their accomplishments. At about halfway back there was the opportunity for students to ride through some mud puddles! About half the group of students took part and all got very muddy! This made a very sticky and wet ride home! All the students thoroughly enjoyed the ride and it was a sure hit with everyone who took part!

Last Saturday the 22nd of May was 80’s Night. Every Saturday we have a night activity called Saturday Night Fever. Each week we have a different activity such as Sing Star or Cranium. All term we had been looking forward to the famous 80’s Night Disco. On Saturday afternoon we took a quick trip to the Ballarat Op Shop for some last minute additions to our wonderful outfits. We then began the long and very important process of getting ready. We teased our hair, put on lots of over the top makeup and of course took lots of photos! When we walked into Jubilee Hall it was like stepping back in time. Everyone looked fantastic! There was lots of bright colour and leather pants, and some very high heels! Then there was the dancing, we danced all night to a variety of classic 80’s hits. There was Bon Jovi, Wham and of course you can’t have an 80’s disco without Michael Jackson. Prizes were handed out to the people with the best outfits and the best dance moves. We were all very sad when the night ended, we could’ve danced all night! Over all the night was fun, laughter and some very cheesy dancing. It will be a night that we will all remember for a long time.

On Monday the 24th of May it was Round 5 of Cluster Sports. Red and Green played each other. This week cluster sport was a bit different. This time each team got to choose a game and then the staff chose the last game. The night started off with lots of energy and great chants. The games started and Green Cluster got to choose the first game. They chose rebound ball. In this game we had to throw a basketball at the backboard and make it hit the ground without anyone touching it. Green won this game by a few points. Blue chose the second game and they chose Ultimate Frisbee. Blue went in confident to this game because they knew they were really good at it and they proved it. Blue smashed Green in this game. The staff chose the final game which was dodge ball. Green started off really well and won two games in a row but then Blue came back and won the next two. There was no more time and the game was called a tie. Overall it was a great night with lots of energy and cheering with Green ending up just winning the night.

This week for the running program we have been doing 5km hill runs. Everybody runs as a group until we get to the hill and then run at our own pace. All of the runs we are doing are in preparation for Mt Beckworth. We run 10km to Beckworth and then 2km up hill. There has been no group that has had everyone complete Beckworth but I think we can be the first to do it. Everybody seems to have the fitness but more importantly I think every one of us have the mind strength. It also certainly helps that we have so much encouragement. Whenever someone is feeling tired or sore everyone will help them out and encourage them to keep going. I really believe we can do it and it is not long until we find out.

On Thursday May2 7th myself and a few other kids walked up Mt.Beckworth as part of our ‘Golden Era’ course. Once we reached the top of Beckworth, we paired up with each other and then got taken down through the caves of the mountain. I have done caving before, but this was one of the best caves I have been through, I thought it was very fun but still challenging. The reason we went to Beckworth and did this is because it was tied in with our course. In Golden Era we learnt about Captain Moonlight and how he hid out in the caves of Beckworth so our teacher said that we could go up to Beckworth and through the caves. It definitely made me think about Captain Moonlight a lot more and how he would have lived the way he did. Anyone who has a chance to go through the caves of Beckworth or caving in general, definitely take it because it is an amazing and fun experience.

Through out the Clunes program students took part in the class Place and Time. There were four different classes; Modern Era, Pre History, Golden Era and Aboriginal History. Throughout the term each of these groups worked very hard on a project that was going to be presented to the other Place and Time groups on Thursday the 27th of May. The Modern Era class presented first. They presented their front elevation drawings of the Clunes building which they researched along with a brief history of the building that they drew. Next up was Pre History, their group shared with the other students about the land, animals and plants before humans. The Golden Era students spoke about the crime that happened in the golden era along with medicine that was around then. They also spoke about how gold was found and what tools were used. The students that were in the Aboriginal History class spoke to us about how the aboriginal people lost their children and they would have to track them with their knowledge of the land. It was really interesting learning and hearing about what the other Place and Time groups had been doing over the term. All of the students had a great time presenting and learning about how Clunes changed over time.

On Friday nights the students of group 42 have a chance to either work on their projects or have a chance to hang out with some friends they haven’t spoken to in a long time. They also have a chance to walk down to the community centre and have a friendly match of Basketball. Although the match is friendly, I have witnessed some competitive playing down in the centre some Friday nights. It is also a chance for the people who play basketball to keep their skills up to scratch and to have some fun doing it. So for the last 2 week of Clunes lets try and have more people come and enjoy the fun.

Throughout the term every Friday afternoon the circus group meets in the Jubilee Hall to practise their circus skills. At the end of the term we’ll all be performing and the anticipation is building as we grow closer to Presentation Day. Each person has chosen at least one apparatus to perform with. I’ve got the devil sticks as well as poi. For the first part of the term we just practised our skills and built confidence in our chosen area but as we come closer to this end of the term we have begun to refine our skills into routines and acts. Some people including myself are performing in groups while others are going solo but everyone has a part in the acts. On top of that in the last few weeks we have begun practising acrobatics which adds just another level of depth to our performance. We’ve got flips, lifts and spins all combined in a great group effort to make an extremely interesting performance but it’s not all about the audience. The performers themselves have learnt a lot. Apart from the obvious new skill we have done some growing in more complex areas. It has helped a lot of us to come out of our shells a bit and show off a hidden talent as well as helped push us to new levels and really challenge ourselves to get involved with the entire group and not just our own acts. The greatest thing about the program is that it is student driven. The teachers give us guidance and teach us the basics but all the learning is done ourselves. We have to research and practise in your own time and get a flowing routine together all by ourselves. Our teachers are there just to ensure that we have set ourselves achievable yet challenging goals and to keep us safe but even through that area we really do have to take the load ourselves. I think it’s an amazing program that really pushes us to work for ourselves and not because we are told to and can really help to form new talents and showcase them.