Faculty News

The Outdoor Education program had an extremely busy term one with the Year 7 to 10 students undertaking a huge range of activities across the state. It was great to see participation rates so high across the majority of the activities, as sometimes it's the students that are hesitant about new experiences that ultimately gain the most from them. 

The Year 9 students kicked off the year with an overnight surf trip to either Phillip Island or Inverloch. The residential aspect not only allowed for more time in the water perfecting their surf skills and water safety, but gave them the time to bond together in the downtime at camp and explore some of the local landscape of the beautiful surrounding coastline. 

Our new cohort of Year 7’s went straight into an action-packed three days of activities in Rawson, a gold-mining town in Gippsland. It is always so good to see the students creating long-lasting friendships on these trips, and as we so often hear from graduating Year 12 students — this camp is a true highlight of their time at Mazenod College. 

Term 1 also saw a selection of one-day snorkeling trips for our Year 8 students, embarking from Portsea Pier. For many students, this was a big step outside their comfort zone, with many surprised by the water tasting salty! The students acquired basic snorkeling skills in the water and several students were lucky enough to spot the shy Weedy Sea Dragon around the pier. The boys then journeyed out into the bay to enjoy a particularly surreal experience — swimming amongst Australian Fur Seals.

A range of activities was offered to the Year 10 students who completed activities in and out of school for 4 days. Aside from the allocated personal development day at the College, the students gained valuable experience in road safety and skills at the METEC Driver Training School. For many, this was their first time behind the wheel, and gave others a great chance to remind themselves of the responsibility many of them will have with a driver's license. The outdoor aspect of activities came in the form of mountain biking in Kilcunda, surfing and stand-up paddle boarding at Inverloch, surfing at Phillip Island, Kayaking in Melbourne’s CBD, and caving and river surfing in Warburton. 

All in all, it was a very busy term and we hope those that "left nothing undared" went home with some long-lasting memories and new skills to carry with them.

Michael Pearson

Outdoor Education Assist. Coordinator