Outdoor Education
TAS Outdoor Education Handbook for Students and Parents
At TAS, students can develop the essential life skills of resilience, leadership, teamwork and self-responsibility in the safe, yet challenging, learning environment of the inspiring sequential outdoor education program. The program provides students with strategies to develop honesty, empathy and self-reflection, while living healthy and sustainable lives. These attributes are highly valued by employers, tertiary institutions and all sectors of society.
The setting for the program is the diverse yet beautiful natural environment of far North Queensland. This spectacular backdrop provides all participants with a direct relationship with the natural world, fostering a depth of understanding that is critical to making educated and informed decisions about the future of the planet. With youth obesity, mental illness and screen time on the rise, the outdoor education program provides a viable and healthy experience for TAS students. The program provides personal challenges, encourages participation, fosters leadership skills and develops traits of community responsibility, cooperation, resourcefulness, resilience and communication. Quite simply – it is so much more than a CAMP.
The TAS Outdoor Education Program is recognised as one of the best of its kind in Australia and is unique in its scope and duration as students from Year 2 to Year 12 participate in a range of new and exciting educational experiences. These experiences range from a ‘first time away from home’ experience in Year 2 to the flagship program, 'the Year 9 Journey', of 18 days duration.
A select group of students at TAS can further develop their interest in outdoor education by enrolling in the Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation offered at the school in Year 10 and Year 11. An in depth course where students focus on a range of outdoor pursuits to develop their skills as future outdoor leaders.
Let Year 11 student Sophie Kalkowski-Pope show your her Outdoor Education Journey
The Value of Outdoor Education
In today’s modern world where there seems to be an increase in:
- urban compaction and close living.
- academic focus and social busyness.
- sedentary life styles.
- pace of change and technological advancement.
In the same world we face a decrease in:
- extended recreation time.
- reflective time and time out.
- connection to our natural environment.
- community interaction in our local area.
Kurt Hahn (the founder of Outward Bound) quotes ‘We must not dis-able our children by making their lives easy’.
The TAS Outdoor Education Program seeks to actively address some of the above concerns from Year 2 to Year 12 via a range of sequential experiences throughout a student’s life at TAS.
National and International research tells us that lasting change to core behaviours in students occurs more deeply, and is longer lasting with programs of five to seven days in length. This lends weight to the inclusion of the School’s flagship program, the Year 9 Journey, over eighteen days.
Core tools and experiences of the Year 9 Journey:
- remote camping and hiking expeditions.
- canoeing and canoeing expeditions.
- community service environmental work and social connection.
- communal living with real consequences.
- structured, supportive and safe challenges.
- high and low challenge ropes courses.
- abseiling.
- initiatives and team challenges.
- rock climbing.
These tools and experiences endeavour to develop in students:
- a strong positive social identity.
- true self confidence.
- independence followed by social and community interdependence.
- awareness of the benefit of challenges.
- self reliance.
- personal growth.
- insight.
- teamwork.
- environmental appreciation.
These lofty goals are achieved by:
- utilising the natural locations around North Queensland.
- having professional outdoor education staff who ensure high standards, safety and outcomes for students and parents.
- utilising local professional outdoor education contractors to add value to programs.
- a constant commitment from the school to promote and value these outcomes.
Curriculum
