Outdoor education provides unique experiential outdoor learning opportunities for students to connect with the natural world, others and themselves. The outdoor experiences not only provide opportunities to interact with nature, but also provide challenges and risks for the girls in a safe environment.
There are many benefits of outdoor education for a students’ personal development including:
- the development of initiative, self-reliance, co-operation, decision making, creative problem solving and leadership
- opportunities for deep personal and social learning as a foundation for creating strong relationships
- the improvement of brain resilience through the progressive, repeated exposure to custom-built outdoor challenges
- increased cognitive ability and adaptability
- communication, teamwork, problem solving, self-management, planning and organising
- applying technology, learning, initiative and enterprise.
This term, St Margaret’s Year 4 and Year 10 students have been engaged in our outdoor education program.
The Year 4s have spent two nights at Alexandra Headland enjoying the sunshine and surfing the waves while working through activities and experiences focused on developing their personal growth and self-management. The students have been developing their confidence, team skills and awareness of the beach environment whilst experiencing destinations such as Bli Bli Aqua Park, Alexandra Headland beach and even ten pin bowling.
The Year 10s have been immersed in a three-day expedition, either bush walking or white-water canoeing. At the tail end of St Margaret’s sequential outdoor education program, the girls have been honing their basic outdoor education skills as well as developing more advanced proficiencies such as navigation using a map and a compass and their leadership abilities including task delegation.
These outdoor education experiences display how a carefully planned sequential outdoor education curriculum provides a steady progression from a fully supported program in the primary and early secondary years to an independent journey program in Year 10. Each year's program builds on the previous years by increasing the number of days and building on activities that require more self-regulation.
