Outdoor Education

Outdoor Education in the Middle School forms part of the broader College plan in which students step beyond their regular routines and experience a range of pursuits and skills through the outdoors.

In Year 7 all students participate in a camp at a location on the Gold Coast.  A variety of water-based individual and team-building activities are undertaken and the College’s senior school leaders run evening sessions focusing on building the skills required to work as part of a new cohort.

Building upon their Year 7 experience all students in Year 8 will participate in an outdoor education camp in the Northern NSW hinterland.  As well as learning important outdoor skills all students will undertake a ‘campout’ in the foothills of a World Heritage rainforest.

Students’ outdoor educational experiences in the Middle School culminate in ‘The Edge’, a four week programme in the final term of Year 9 and one of the rites of passage at St Andrews.  A service-learning week is followed by a two week outdoor experience in the Blackbutt area west of the Sunshine Coast.  Students then return to the College for a week of reflection culminating in a presentation evening to parents and staff.  For many students ‘The Edge’ is truly a metaphoric jumping point from which they launch into their senior years at the College.