ARL Lawyers Charitable Trust supports Epuni School Camp

ARL Lawyers

The rain may have dampened the ground, but not the children’s smiles as the year five and six students from Epuni School clamped on their harnesses and flew down the zip line.

is activity is one of several that the senior students get to experience at Epuni School’s biennial senior camp at Kaitoke.

This year, the camp was made possible by ARL Lawyers Charitable Trust and other grants, donations, and fundraising—to the extent that the camp was fully funded. Janet Evans, Principal of Epuni School, said that without the support the camp may not have happened. “We wouldn’t run it with some children, it would be everyone or no one. We were looking for sponsorship to reduce the costs, so it was doable for families, but having it fully funded made a huge difference to our families. We are a decile three school and many families initially thought, my kid can’t go.”

And to see the children’s faces as they achieved something that they thought they couldn’t do, was amazing.” said Evans.

Akira, one of the students said she was scared of the abseiling and got stuck halfway down but when she got to the bottom, she wanted to do it all again!

School Camp provides students with opportunities to step out of their comfort zone, take risks and have a go at something different. The instructors are great and soon identify which students they can push a little bit more. “One of the challenges was the students were put in groups and had to get across a plank in age order, but they weren’t allowed to get off the plank. They had to rely on each other to achieve some of the activities.” Evans said.

The students are learning without knowing they are learning because they are having fun. “One little boy was told to wipe the table. He’d never wiped a table and didn’t know how to do it! So, they’re learning what we think are basic skills, but some don’t know about that sort of stuff” said Evans

What the students are learning at this camp is resilience and taking responsibility for what they’re doing, which fits in with Epuni School’s values — resilience, relationships, responsibility and respect. They are getting to live these values in a different environment.

“When I was down at archery this morning, when any kid got it into the bullseye, they all cheered and then when they got me to have a go and I hit the bullseye everybody cheered. It was so cool. It’s creating a real sense of belonging as well” said Evans.

If the supporters and funders could see the children’s faces, they would know they have impacted these young lives.