GROUPS & ACTIVITIES Outdoor Education
YEAR 9 ACTIVITY WEEK The Year 9 Outdoor Activity week was again held over two three- day blocks from November 24–26 and November 29–1 December. It was split into two sets of three- days of activities (rafting on Lake Pearson and caving through Cave Stream) and a two-night tramp from Cave Stream to Lake Pearson via Broken River and Helicopter Hill in Craigieburn. The tramp covers over 30km of terrain including multiple river crossings, forest trails and some decent hill climbs. This is the second year of this programme and with a few tweaks from last year, it has developed into a really good outdoor experience. The programme was changed in 2020 to come into line with the expectations of the Bronze Adventurous Journey tramps in Year 10 and hopefully the proposed Year 11 trip in 2022. The week was organised by Horizons Unlimited, an outdoor adventure group provider. The format meant the Year 9 boys were split into two groups of approximately 65. The first group would do the Craigieburn camp for two nights – half starting at Cave Stream and heading to Lake Pearson, the other half at Lake Pearson heading to Cave Stream. The other group was involved in a day of surfing at Sumner, another day of water-based activities at Cass Bay including stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking and sailing while the last day was made up of zip lining or mountain biking at the Christchurch Adventure Park. There were varying degrees of warm to hot weather which sapped their energy, but the boys did not have to contend with the rain or cold mornings – due to snow on the hills – as occurred last year. We were
challenged by the cave this year with many groups not making it past the first waterfall. Those that did make it through, experienced the power of nature at the waterfalls; they got through because they worked as a team. I certainly need to thank a few boys for getting me up that second waterfall. They also experienced teamwork on the raft building, and learnt how to work together to get down the lake (or stay on if it was windy). In my opinion, this new programme is a really good Outdoor Education experience. Outdoor Education is about using the outdoors to learn more about yourself. This includes finding strengths you didn’t know you had. I saw boys develop as leaders (and followers); I saw boys finding new limits they did not know they had; I saw them learning how to get along when meeting new Year 9 students for the first time. The sub-goal for the Year 9 camps was also to start preparing them for the Year 10 Immerse and Inspire Adventurous Journey. The boys were in a group-sleeping arrangement in tents – similar to that on their journey when at the Boyle Lodge.
The tramp was intended to prepare them for their Adventurous Journey. Many boys will now have a good idea of what to take in their packs and what to leave behind. Cooking skills will be improved, too. YEAR 10 ADVENTUROUS JOURNEY The Year 10 boys Outdoor Education is now well-integrated into the Immerse and Inspire programme. The quick Covid-19 lockdown in September saw the third group, who had been walking in a magical wonderland of snow on Tuesday/ Wednesday, having to jump on a bus and high tail it back to College on Wednesday. Thankfully the Duke of Edinburgh applied a Covid-19 exemption, which meant they needed to complete their first trip only, to achieve the Bronze Award this year. I wish to thank the Boyle River Outdoor Education Trust for making the changes necessary for the boys to fulfil their trips. Once again they for another year, went above and beyond to make it happen. The boys went to the Boyle River
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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