04 Mar 2020
Outdoor education experiences have the potential to produce very positive outcomes on an individual and group level for the students who are fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to participate. Supervising children during these excursions can also be a very rewarding experience for teachers, especially when the students in your care respond in a positive and enthusiastic manner to the challenges they encounter during the excursion.
I was very pleased to be able to spend two days with our Year 6 students during their Elizabeth Beach camp last week and it is good to be able to report that this outdoor education activity was a success in all respects. The children are to be commended not only for their behaviour but also for the positive and supportive sense of class spirit they displayed during the two days of activities. I particularly commend Brayden C on the resilience he showed in completing the demanding bushwalk and Jensen for his readiness to provide support and encouragement to other students. The camp challenges included: a beach, headland and rainforest walk from Seven Mile Beach back to Elizabeth Bay; beach activities including wading races, “linked against the waves” challenges, bocce on the sand; the traditional “Rathmines Talent Quest”; a night walk through the rainforest and a ghost crab hunt. The trip to Paci c Palms nished on a very positive note when the Year 6 students successfully defended the Bin Ball Challenge “trophy” which was won by RPS last year.
On behalf of the children and their parents I thank Mrs Quinn, Mrs Wicks and Mr Elston for their readiness to take on the extra responsibilities associated with this excursion. It was particularly pleasing to observe the number of times that individual students in this group actually took the time to express their thanks to Josie, Ellouise and Matt and it was very evident that the Year 6 class as a whole was very appreciative of this extracurricular activity.