Outdoor Education has been a well-loved elective option at Year 9 for over a decade at Heathdale. Scores of students have made their hiking and camping debuts on a Year 9 hike somewhere along the Great Ocean Road. This wonderful tradition continues and now includes Year 10 Outdoor Education and the opportunity to link hikes towards the completion of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
At Year 9, students learn the skills of raising tents, cooking using a portable Trangia stove, carrying a pack, navigation, and surviving the uphill climbs (not easy when you come from the flat plains of Werribee).
Our Year 10 course builds on these skills, introduces further elements of Outdoor Education, and culminates in a more challenging three-day hike. Students develop an understanding of risk, skill development and environmental awareness.
Outdoor Education provides students with knowledge but also develops independence, resilience, and real-world skills that students can apply to their other learning and goals.
Special thanks go to Mr Fourie, who oversees our Outdoor Education program on the Werribee campus, for the brilliant photos of this year’s adventures. And thanks also to our valiant team of hiking Secondary teachers, who are willing to climb every mountain, ford cold streams, sleep on the ground and sing around the campfires to ensure our students get to have these wonderful opportunities to grow!