The Sports Desk
Intro to Outdoor Ed and Duke of Edinburgh Award
MECS is surrounded by beautiful creation and landscapes that we often love to look at and many people adore. The trees and wildlife are all things we love about our location. Sometimes we have even seen Echidnas stroll through the school grounds. Not only do we have this, but many of our students love to be in the outdoors and reflect on God's creation whilst being caretakers of the earth. In 2024, we have started an Outdoor Education elective for our Year 10 students in which students will learn more about taking care of the earth through outdoor experiences, more about their physical and mental capabilities as they challenge themselves and build their resilience in a variety of settings.
Outdoor Education is a very valuable opportunity for students to unwrap new gifts and learn more about themselves in a practical setting. It is also a great opportunity to build community and provide a greater connection amongst their peers. Through this program, the students are also undertaking the Duke of Edinburgh Award (Bronze), which requires students to complete a certain amount of hours in 4 different fields to receive their award. These fields are Adventurous Journey (e.g. planning a hiking experience), Skills (e.g. learning a language, instrument, cooking skills), Physical Recreation (e.g. their weekend Basketball or sporting experience) and Volunteer Service (e.g. working at an Op Shop). All these hours are done outside of the classroom apart from the Adventurous Journey in which students will have opportunities in class and through camps to develop these skills and achieve the required hours. The Duke of Edinburgh award is recognised worldwide and provides great opportunities for the students including a connection with La Trobe University and students are given priority access to La Trobe's early admissions Aspire program if they complete this award.
Students have already been learning skills related to outdoor experiences such as planning travel logistics, managing budgets and researching costs, understanding the importance of risk assessments whilst learning the skills to develop a risk assessment themselves along with all the other aspects involved in the preparation and planning process of an outdoor adventure. They will be able to put these skills into practice throughout Term 2 when the students explore the outdoor environment through a camp they will be undertaking to the Cathedral Ranges! Overall, it has been a great start and will be a great opportunity for all students who are involved!
Chris Noy
Secondary School Sports Coordinator/HPE Teacher
CSEN Swimming Competition
On Friday 15 March, an amazing group of students headed to the Melbourne Sports & Aquatics Centre to compete at the CSEN Swimming Competition. Throughout the day, a lot of high class swimming was shown. Well done to all our students who came along and participated but special mentions go to Maggie Draffin (Year 8) who came 2nd in the U14 Breaststroke and Zac King (Year 10) who came 3rd in the U16 Butterfly, 2nd in U16 Freestyle and 1st in U16 Backstroke. It was another successful year finishing 1st in our division in both the U16 Girls and U16 Boys age groups as well as finishing 2nd in our division overall. Well done to all students involved!
Chris Noy
Secondary School Sports Coordinator/HPE Teacher