Category: Our Stories
Challenge by choice
“If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings and grow.” Alfie Kohn The notion of “challenge by choice” is an important part of what we do on Cottage programs. With encouragement and kindness, when a person makes the decision to do something – without being […]
Sun, sun and more sun on Take a Break!
What more can you ask for during a winter’s camp, but sun? Children from a primary school in Geelong scored the best two days of winter – 19 and 20 degrees with a light northerly wind, perfect for two afternoons of boogie-boarding. The water temperature is still a little chilly, but when the sun is […]
Rainbow fish on a rainy day
It was a typical winter’s day on Tuesday this week. The rain started at midnight and it rained all the way through until dinner the day after. This kept us indoors all day. The Cottage by the Sea team had to be creative and brainstormed all kinds of different games as well as arts and […]
More than just a ski trip
An inspiring program including a ski trip is not only fun but will enrich the REEF participants’ learning and development, as well as strengthening the bonds that they have created with each other over the past 16 months. This specific trip will give the participants a greater sense of community and respect for each other, […]
On Take a Break, we BOUNCE!
Visiting the indoor trampoline centre BOUNCE was a new experience for most of the children on the Take a Break program this week. Living all the way down the Victorian coast in Warrnambool, their nearest BOUNCE centre is in Geelong. When the children caught wind of an upcoming session at BOUNCE, one girl in particular […]
The impact of a scholarship opportunity at Cottage by the Sea
“There are miracles and glory in every child. Our glory lies in empowering them to flourish their glory.” ― Amit Ray The underpinning goals of the Mentor program are for young people to be actively contributing to their community, school and home, as well as here at Cottage. Mentor participants (as well as REEFies) also have […]
The biggest and best sandcastle!
From the moment the children hopped on the bus to Cottage by the Sea for the Take a Break program, there was lots of talk about who was going to build the biggest and best sandcastle – we could hear how competitive it was getting. Therefore, we knew that the first activity of camp had […]
Farm tour for the REEFies
Camp number 3 for the REEF 2 group is always a fun time, and this year it didn’t disappoint. The REEFies headed off on the bus in the morning and were due to do the farm tour at Freshwater Creek after lunch. The tour is a big hit with the REEFies and is a real […]
All Mentor camp: It’s show time!
The All Mentor camp that takes place in Melbourne each year is a camp that our Mentors and staff really look forward to. This year’s program theme was “arts and culture”, and what better way to experience these things in Melbourne than to see a stage show at the Princess Theatre. Our Mentors were very […]
Take a Break for a bushfire-affected community
In 2021, Cottage started to run programs for those communities affected by bushfires. Our first school to attend in February 2021 was a primary school in East Gippsland. The summer program allowed them to participate in activities such as fishing charters, where they would return to Cottage and cook their fresh fish. They also explored […]
The REEFies go to BOUNCE!
It was hard to believe that it was time again for our first-year REEFies to attend their second camp at Cottage. It is also a camp where we push their comfort zones a little further while having some fun. One of the big activities is going to BOUNCE in Geelong. The REEFies were super excited […]
Take a Break visits the Marine Discovery Centre
It’s the last day of camp for participants from a primary school in rural Victoria. There were a lot of upset little faces as they brought their bags downstairs. But the day was not over, just yet! We organised to go to the Marine Discovery Centre. The smiles came back very quickly once they knew […]
An unforgettable week on our Take a Break program
For our students from a primary school in Gippsland, the Cottage experience would be a camp many wouldn’t forget. On Wednesday morning, we collected wetsuits ready for a surf at Ocean Grove beach. There were a few nervous faces as one of the kids asked, “Do we have to surf”? “You don’t need to go […]
I Did It Mum!
From the moment we picked up the Mentors, we had one girl that mentioned she was not doing the bridge climb. We knew this Mentor would need a lot of encouragement and support from both the staff and the other Mentors to get her in the right mindset to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We […]
Fun and excitement in unexpected places
This week, 42 kids and seven staff members from a primary school in Melbourne attended the Take a Break program. They had fantastic weather on their bus drive down. A balmy 20°C on the day of arrival – perfect weather to go swimming. Unfortunately, swimming was not on the program for day 1. Day 2 […]
A horse-riding adventure for our Mentors
Horse-riding can be a little intimidating and scary when you don’t have lots of experience. For our Old Mentors, it was an opportunity to put some practice from previous horse-riding Cottage camps at Spring Creek to the test. After arriving at Watson’s Mountain Country Trail Rides in Boorolite near Mansfield, our Mentors were paired with […]
The Gordon Skilling Up the Cottage Mentors
Recently our Mentor participants have benefited from Cottage By The Sea’s close working relationship with The Gordon providing hands-on learning from industry trained educators. Two recent courses undertaken were the Espresso Master Class, as well as their Food Handling course, equipping our Mentors with skills which could be used to help get highly demanded jobs […]
Beach fun for our new Mentors
For our new Mentors back at Cottage, it was a camp about gaining a qualification. For the first group of Mentors, they were completing a First Aid and CPR course. For the second group of Mentors, they were completing a Food Handling course. Both of these accredited courses required the Mentors to be in the […]
