On Saturday 22nd March, we held our 2025 Year 7 Camp!
Year 7 students were welcomed to Woodman Point Recreation Camp by Jayden Boundry. We thank Jayden for welcoming our students and bringing our new scholars together for the first time. This was followed by a nice lunch, allowing time for students to socialise and get to know some new faces, or reconnect with friends and family beginning this journey alongside them. Our students come from all over Western Australia to start their secondary education in Perth. This can be a huge adjustment for students that can often lead to homesickness. The relationships that are built throughout our program start because of the MADALAH Year 7 Camp. The first interactions that Year 7 students have with their MADALAH cohort, flourish into meaningful connections that continue to grow throughout their entire secondary education and beyond.
Once students spent some time socialising amongst themselves, they split into groups to start some fun activities lead by the Student Team. The Student Team work closely together before the camp, preparing a variety of fun activities to encourage students to have fun, talk to new students, showcase their interests and express their individual selves. Group one kicked off with the Amazing Race, including word scrambles, hula hoops and blindfolds. Group two started with beach activities, involving beach cricket and sandcastle Pictionary. Once the groups had finished their activities, they swapped over to complete the next one.
After the planned activities, students then had some free time. Some of our students played sporting games with the Student Team and mentors such as soccer and basketball. Our students still had so much energy to run around, and they definitely put staff to work… Other students decided to play some Jenga and giant Connect 4 amongst each other. To wrap up the day students had dinner and an evening social, involving some Limbo, musical chairs and some tunes. One thing that we can’t argue with, is that the students do have great taste in music!
We had some feedback from students that the activities throughout the day, were their favourite parts of camp.
“One of my favourite things about Year 7 Camp was getting to know everyone, going to the beach and playing cricket” – Nathaniel
“My favourite thing from the camp was playing basketball and the activities” – Chavez
“My favourite thing about camp was the basketball court and probably the activities” – Lennix
“My favourite thing was playing with my friends and making sandcastles on the beach”- Braxton
“My favourite thing was playing beach cricket and making new friends with my cousin” – Lekira
The next day, Sunday 23rd March, the MADALAH Student Council came down to meet the Year 7 cohort. The Student Council have experienced the MADALAH Year 7 Camp at the start of their own education journeys. They can relate to how the students may be feeling as once upon a time, they were walking in the same shoes. This is the first year we had our Student Council attend and act as mentors to our new scholars. The impact that this had on our students was incredible as students could look up to our Student Council and learn about the support that is provided through the MADALAH program.
We had more activities lined up, so students separated into 3 groups combined with the Student Team, MADALAH Mentors and the Student Council. Group one kicked off the Time Capsule activity, having students write a letter to their future self and take a polaroid picture that they will be able to see when they graduate. Although quite a lot of polaroid shaking, the students were excited to learn that they will be able to open their letters and photo in 5 years-time. The Student Team came up with the idea of looking back at your younger self when completing secondary education. It shows the personal growth and development over time and creates meaning for that individual student to showcase how far they have come.
Group two kicked off the collaborative art piece that had been designed by Student Team member, Kaide Wheelock. This collaborative art piece represented the 50 Year 7’s in 2025, all coming together around a meeting place through their own journeys. Each student was able to design their own u-shape around the meeting place that represented them as an individual coming into the MADALAH program. This art piece is a further representation of each student and the wrap around program that we provide.
Group three kicked off with some sporting activities, allowing for some friendly competition amongst themselves, staff and mentors. Creating a dynamic for students to have fun and get a little bit competitive (or largely competitive). Sporting activities helps build the confidence and social network for our students. It also creates that quality time for The Student Team and mentors to further get to know students on a personal level and see their personalities shine.
Once the groups finished rotating through the three activities, we had KingKira come down to engage with our students. KingKira were kind enough to help fund the MADALAH Year 7 Camp for 2025 and wanted to have a yarn with students and experience the impact that this camp provides to our new scholars. The KingKira team participated in some tag and soccer before having a BBQ to further get to know some of the staff and students. We had the lovely Shakria Grasso speak to students about her family business and other business ventures. She explained the purpose of KingKira and expressed to students that they were able to reach out if they have any questions. We would like to thank Shakira and the KingKira team for coming down and being part of the experience.
And that wraps up the 2025 MADALAH Year 7 Camp! A huge thank you to KingKira for helping us fund our event, making it a great success. We also thank Jayden Boundry, from Ngalak Nidja for welcoming students to Whadjuk Country. Thank you to our incredible Student Council for taking the time to build those important relationships and share your experiences with our new scholars. Thank you to our mentors for engaging, fostering relationships and being an amazing helping hand to the Student Team. Thanks to everyone involved, we were able to bring students together to build meaningful relationships and introduce them to the wrap-around-support that the MADALAH program provides.
Here are what some of our students said about their experience.
“My favourite thing was how many friends I made, all the stuff we did and how nice the staff are” – Kymeli
“My favourite thing was seeing all my friends from primary school that also got the scholarship with MADALAH”- Darcey
“My favourite thing was meeting a lot of new people; everyone was really nice, and all the adults were really nice as well” – Zoe
“My favourite thing was meeting new people and making new friends from other schools” – Kyrah
“My favourite thing was meeting new people” – Mila
“My favourite thing was meeting new people and spending time with them”- Keisha
“My favourite thing was making new friends, and right next to the beach”- Anthony
“My favourite thing was making new friends and going to the disco” – Lucas
“My favourite thing was meeting new people, making new friends and playing games with them” – Avah
