As we move into the final weeks of term a lot continues to happen around campus and our students, I know will end the year on a crescendo of celebration.

The opportunity to host functions and gatherings tends to increase in summer and with that comes a lot of planning consideration. In addition to our safe party guidelines published here for you reference I was thinking that it was timely to give an insight into the way you may hold an event which is different, age appropriate and still achieves the outcome of fun! So, here’s my top suggestions - it’s not the definitive list its just to prompt your thinking about the best way to help your child:

All Ages

Themed functions always go over a treat and whilst it may seem a hassle to organise the more welcoming and different the environment and dress expectation for guests the tone is set and behaviour reflected.

BIG is out. Whilst it’s great to be inclusive at the end of the day the best gatherings are those where there is a smaller crowd and there is an opportunity to really just hang out with the close buddies.

The great outdoors! Vertical Reality Climbing. Picnic in the Botanic Gardens with great games like Finska and Boule, Tree Climb, older kids may like barefoot bowling, cycle tracks, go karting, horse riding, paint balling, surf lesson by the beach.

The great indoors: Escape rooms, VR experiences, Pumpt or Bounce.

At home: lots of elements - colour run, silent disco, guest amateur DJ, photo booth, makeover magic.

The traditional: bowling and ice skating

Older Students

For older students (16/17) the classier the better seems to be the general rule of thumb to avoid adverse behaviours.

Dine out! For smaller gatherings it’s great to organise a pre gathering at home with mocktails and then uber the gang down to MELT or in the dining room of a good pub such as the Ed or TA. This means the kids are in an adult environment but not indulging in all adult behaviours! 

This is not a definitive list, but I thought it timely to get us all thinking about what we can do to engage teenagers in birthday parties or gatherings. Left to them to organise you lose structure and opportunities are missed. It’s not true that all teenagers want or have alcohol or big events.

The secret ingredient to great teenage gatherings is the secret conversations of parents with other parents. If together we set the standard, we would like to see then our community remains safe and strong. 

We wish our Year 10’s an exciting three weeks for their learning for life program. All the best to our Year 12 students who have all but finished exams – their longest summer ever is about to commence!     

Have a great weekend!

Dale