This 1938 newspaper article reports on the first-ever nationally authorised school camp, held for senior boys from Auckland's Epsom Normal School at a YMCA camp at Hūnua, south of Auckland. The Auckland Star reported that the boys 'did all the cooking and assisted the cook; they studied chiefly Nature, art, practical arithmetic, music, physical education, swimming and life-saving, went on study rambles, produced plays, and ended each day with a singsong.' Their parents felt that such camps should become 'a permanent feature of normal school policy,' and the Education Department agreed.