In the Weeds and the Wilderness: Caring for Year 7s on Outdoor Education Programs

In the weeks before the experience, Heads of House work closely with the Outdoor Education teachers and Floreamus Centre staff to identify any students who may require additional support while away. Great care is taken to ensure that students’ dorm allocations will be suitable, and that all dietary requirements will be catered for. Girls are formally briefed by visiting Marrapatta staff, and meet their Year 10 Marrapatta Seniors, who have attended three outdoor programs already and accompany the Year 7s as part of their own leadership journey. There is always a sense of excitement and trepidation in the House Group as the girls design their ‘dilly bags’, which will be used to store their plastic plates and cutlery during their camp-out.

When departure day rolls around, the mood is mixed as students hand in their phones and set off from Spring Hill for their outdoor adventure. But when we arrive at the Marrapatta Memorial Outdoor Education Centre and pass through the wrought-iron gates commissioned by the Old Girls Association, everyone has the sense that they have arrived somewhere special. I feel like I have returned home as I gather with Marrapatta colleagues who have become like family over the years. As they sit in the friendship circle up on the grassy flat and read the Acknowledgement of Country aloud, they become inducted into a different kind of learning environment: one where self-awareness and respect for place are as important as good communication and shared responsibility.

The first day is spent exploring the beautiful property, with students using a map to navigate their way from the alpacas to the Dorothy Hill Observatory—and everything in between. The afternoon culminates in a challenging hike to the Tippy Top Mountain on the property, and girls typically feel an enormous sense of achievement to have made it there, enjoying a sunset view of Borumba Dam in the distance. Dinner is always fresh and delicious, and girls are often surprised by the generosity and variety available. Students enjoy the company of their classmates on the verandah, laughing about the marvellous names they have invented for the resident chickens. Marrapatta isn’t like any school camp our students have done before; it’s the start of new beginnings.

Already by the end of the first day, the teaching team is observing and strategising. Conversations are had about how to best support individuals who might be a little nervous about forming new friendships, or who appear rattled by the change to their routines. We also work with the Year 10 Marrapatta Seniors to help us promote a culture of interdependence and kindness, mentoring them so that they might feel a sense of responsibility for the experience of the fledgling Year 7s who look up to them.

When the weather is looking good on Day Two, it’s decided that we will proceed with the Team Challenge Day. Marrapatta staff and I are stationed around the property while girls move in groups to complete a series of challenges. Within their teams, they engage in critical thinking and creative problem solving, working to overcome some kind of obstacle. I see a different side to some of the students I teach: one student, who can appear disengaged at times in English, is confidently delegating tasks and leading her team to success.

Later that afternoon, we head to another area of the property where we will camp, and girls learn how to assemble their tents. We gather in the nonagon designed by the Fathers Group and enjoy an excellent cook-up. As the sun sets and the head torches come on, some students slice and dice the vegetables while others take ownership of the trangias, boiling the water for pasta and ensuring there is enough fuel to sustain the cook. Nobody goes to bed hungry, and the chocolate mousse that girls have prepared for dessert is always well received.

A koala is spied in a tree the next morning, and the Director of Outdoor Education sends up a drone to collect footage for the local agency charged with identifying and inoculating them. It’s a precious moment we all cherish. After a quick breakfast, it’s time for the Sugar Glider—our Year 7 girls’ introduction to high ropes. Some students embrace the chance to soar among the treetops while their friends heave the rope, but others are a little uneasy about the prospect of human flight. It is heartening to see the way that classmates rally around our nervous flyers, offering them a word of kindness and reassurance that usually results in a tentative first go in the harness, and a bold second flight. During the high ropes activity, half of the group is reflecting on their program with Marrapatta staff, sharing their personal goals for the week and evaluating their own engagement. The one-on-one conversations become a critical way of ensuring that every girl is travelling well. The girls’ Head of House arrives from Spring Hill, and the teacher support team grows.

Thursday is spent at the School’s neighbouring property of Bella Junction. Venturing beyond Marrapatta for the first time on their stay, girls must cross a running stream to get to paradise on the other side. There are some team activities that promote good communication and lateral thinking, and then girls work in groups to transform a tangle of ropes, empty drums and sticks of bamboo into a raft, which they race down Yabba Creek. The Year 10 Marrapatta Seniors assist with knot-tying and vessel design, and their skills are highly sought after. The Marrapatta staff, who have only worked with the girls for three days, already know each student by name and can speak confidently about each girl’s progress.

As we move between the two properties, Marrapatta staff block the road at both ends so that we enjoy clear and safe passage. We’re all tired by the time we make it back to base, but we still head out on a nocturnal expedition to see wildlife, and are rewarded when we find little sugar gliders leaping from their nesting boxes. We also look at the night sky that glimmers a little brighter away from all the city lights, and begin to trace the constellations we can identify. On the land of the Kabi Kabi people—our first astronomers—it’s hard not to feel a sense of connection to this extraordinary place.

The time away culminates in a precious opportunity for reflection on the final morning. Students take some time to consider their personal growth over the course of the program and acknowledge those classmates who have helped them during the week. Photos and memories get shared from their adventures. It is heartening to see the way that everybody pitches in to help get Marrapatta ready for the next group’s arrival.

As we board the bus to return to Spring Hill before the end of the school day, there is a sense that students have grown a great deal during their week away. The five days free from devices enables an authentic and unmediated engagement among students, where some relationships are consolidated and new ones are formed. Some students may have learned how to cut a capsicum more effectively or how to assemble a tent, while others have learned the value of trying something new or remaining open to being surprised. Many commit to treading more gently on the planet, conscious of the beautiful but fragile ecosystem around them.

Regardless of personal learning journeys our students have been on, all of them are supported by an entire team of people who have worked in loco parentis to ensure their positive experience over the week. Students have no doubt found themselves metaphorically ‘in the weeds’ at some point during their stay, and thanks to the dazzling constellation of student care around them, they’ve flourished.