the great outdoors
Mark Haebich
Teacher - Outdoor Education Studies
Week four of Term 1 saw the Outdoor & Environmental Studies Units 1 & 2 students head away on their first outdoor program for 2018.
Ms Sepp accompanied myself and the students as we travelled over the Black Spur and up to Rubicon Outdoor Centre in the Rubicon Valley. This program focused on Area of Study 1, Motivations for Outdoor Experiences, and was designed to facilitate learning in a range of related key knowledge points. The experienced teachers at Rubicon and myself split the group into smaller topic teams prior to the experience. Students researched their knowledge point preparing relevant information and questions and identifying key moments in the program that they would use to extend their knowledge.
With a range of outdoor experience and skills in the group, it was interesting to see students sharing roles, responsibilities and knowledge. The group self-managed most facets of camp life from the packout of gear at Rubicon on Monday to the return of equipment of Thursday. The program itself was based out of Candlebark campground, on the shores of Lake Eildon, in the Fraser National Park. This is a perfect location to basecamp to access a range of environments and activities and we had Candlebark to ourselves for most of the time!
The second day of the program was spent doing a hike - canoe swap over in which the group split in half, travelled out to Point Mebus by foot or paddle, met for lunch on an upside down canoe. They then swapped modes of transport for the afternoon journey back to Candlebark. This provided students with a great opportunity to compare a range of outdoor environments and two modes of travelling through those environments. The headwind that the morning group canoed into provided a tailwind for the afternoon group - two very different paddling experiences! This provided an opportunity for the afternoon group to spend some time searching for and discovering a range of Taungarung artefacts at the lakes edge, under the guidance of a very learned Rubicon staff member, Daniel.
Most afternoons were spent sharing information within and across topic groups and students did a terrific job in driving their own learning. On Thursday we accessed the Goulburn River for a whitewater day in a range of craft. A small "sports" raft, larger rafts and two person inflatable canoes were used by the group to journey from the Pondage Wall at Eildon to Point Hill, part of the way to the township of Thornton. Students very much enjoyed the bucket lunch, which was much more gourmet than it sounds! Another highlight was the self-rescue swim practiced by all students through the main rapid at Blue Gums. Many students used this experience to reflect on their responses to outdoor environments -including fear.
The final day saw the group return to Rubicon and conduct a very efficient clean up and pack away of gear. We has an early start on this day as most students decided to sleep under the stars and were woken up by a sprinkling of rain at 6am. The group then split in two and explored the Rubicon Valley on horseback or mountain bike for the morning. The broad range of uses of the valley were investigated through these activities and students observed the tourism, recreation, fishing, fish farming, hydroelectricity, logging operations and education industries operating side by side.
This outdoor experience was fully embraced by all students and as already mentioned, they did a fantastic job of managing themselves and their learning throughout the program. This experience formed the backbone for the students' responses to their first School Assessed Coursework task (SAC) and will be drawn on again throughout Unit 1 and Unit 2 - so rich was the learning journey for the group. We all had a terrific time and the other natural outcomes of camp, such as personal and social growth, were also evident during this program. We are very much looking forward to our next major outdoor program visiting the Alpine Environments of the Victorian High Country in winter.
Hannah Rutherford
Year 11
Or first OES camp saw us head into Fraser National Park and surrounding environments in order to delve into our first Area of Study. The trip was such a cool experience. We had the opportunity to blend as a group because the great outdoors offered a neutral space to do so. Even though we accessed so many cool lessons and activities on this outdoor program, my favourite aspect was just the fact we were learning through the environment and each other. Big thanks to Mr Haebich and Ms Sepp who made this experience possible. They gave us independence and the chance to teach each other and ourselves about the environment.
Ella Connell
Year 10
The OES camp was challenging and motivational experience in which I extended my knowledge of motivations for outdoor experiences. It developed my understanding of the subject and I appreciated and enjoyed the experience.
Keenan Dinh
Year 10
This OES camp program was very enjoyable. it allowed us as a group to connect and see each other in a non school walls environment. ii liked how we were given several opportunities for activities we normally would not experience such as horse riding, canoeing and white water rafting. Perhaps the most memorable time was when we could just head down to the river and have a swim and hang out with everyone.