Year 9 Outdoor Education Experience

The Year 9 Outdoor Education Experience took place at Myall Lakes National Park, a beautiful site to visit for the program. Myall Lakes is situated near Port Stephens and is a well-known spot for canoeing, fishing, hiking, surfing and appreciation of the quiet scenery. The program aims to deliver a program that is challenging, enjoyable and one that provides moments to reflect on the beauty of the place around us. It is the final compulsory program of the Outdoor Education program and is set up specifically to give the students one last great experience before they move on to their adventures in Year 10 and beyond.

The program includes canoeing, a beach walk, reflection time and a hike for the students to participate in. The most challenging part of the experience is the 20km canoe day, where students wake up early and are on the water paddling from 8:00am – 5:00pm. The point of this is for students to experience challenges where they need to bring out their inner grit, determination, self-care and ambition to complete the day. The groups work together in their canoes throughout the day and may experience moments of joy, frustration, pride and acceptance of the challenge. It is important to face challenges such as these in life as the journey can become hard. If our students have built their capacity and ‘toolkit’ to handle these challenges, they will be better prepared for the challenges of life in the future. I am very proud of their efforts on this day and congratulate them!

The program also allows time for students to reflect and have some time in nature on their own. They enjoyed a cooked breakfast one morning and also continued to learn the skills to cook by themselves.

I wish to thank all the teachers who attended the camp and to Southbound Adventures for the program. It was a great success and we look forward to next year when the adventure continues!

Student Reflections:

At camp, canoeing was my favourite thing because I was able to create new and stronger relationships with the people on my canoe…Skills that were required to be resilient were confidence, enthusiasm, optimism and a positive mindset. When my peers were struggling, I would assist them by telling them how much they have already accomplished and that they can do anything.

How I dealt with my challenge is knowing that other people were pushing through. Skills that were required to be resilient were patience, strength, determination, courage and laughing about my troubles.

I mostly enjoyed the solo time at camp on the beach, it gave me a chance to have some personal time to really reflect on myself while enjoying the amazing beach view.

Chris Walker
Coordinator of Outdoor Education & Experiential Learning