Every year I take the time to meet with our Year 12 students before they finish their time at Carmel… hopefully they never say farewell to their Carmel family. I ask them to reflect on their years at the School; the highlights and lowlights of their Carmel experience. The students tell me about the teachers who have made a positive impact on their educational journeys and we discuss their plans for remaining connected to the community and to Judaism.

Inevitably, the students mention Carmel camps as some of their most memorable experiences; both our Outdoor Education camps as well as our Jewish Studies camps (‘Machane Zooz’) as times of personal growth and group bonding.

Despite the copious amount of rain, camp season is upon us at Carmel with Years 6-12 each having their own time at a Jewish Studies camp, replete with stimulating discussions, fun activities, and energising ‘ruach’ (singing and dancing). Under the guidance of our Director of Jewish Studies, Mr Lawrence, these camps are a home-grown success. Written and run by Carmel graduate, Brad Myers, the programs are tailored to the Perth Jewish experience. Students say that the messages they learn resonate so strongly with them because of how relevant they are to the idiosyncrasies of Jewish life in WA.

Our Year 12s, who attended their final Carmel camp last week, reported that it was emotionally uplifting to spend quality time with their friends; bereft that their time at Carmel is coming to an end, uplifted in the knowledge that they were entering the next phase of life with the strongest support network anyone could ever dream of. On Saturday night the Year 12s wrote letters to each other as the room filled with tears, laughter and hugs.

These camps are what makes ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP so special. What makes ¹ú±êÂ鶹ÊÓƵAPP unique. How fortunate are our children to have these opportunities to make life-changing personal and collective memories.

Thank you to Mr Lawrence, to our Jewish Studies team, to all the teachers who supervise overnight, and to our parent kitchen volunteers, for making this happen.

Shabbat shalom,

Shula