Junior School Outdoor Education Program

Year 2 - Sleep Over At School

The Year Two Sleep-over is an important first step.... Students stay in the WRJ Prep and MCC prep rooms. The focus is on having fun and spending a night, sometimes a first night, away from home. A high emphasis is placed on respectful play, organising ones personal gear and hygiene, using manners and building anticipation and excitement toward the many programmes that lay ahead in the Outdoor Education programmes.

Year 3 - Three Days, Two Nights At Camp Tinaroo

The Year Three camp builds on the 'away from home' experience offered in Year Two, and offers the students a chance to discover the natural environment around Lake Tinaroo on the Tablelands. The Year Three programme focuses on including others, being patient and using manners. The camp includes hiking, environmental activities, initiative activities and plenty of challenging games.

Year 4 - Three Days, Two Nights at Djarragun Wilderness Centre

Djarragun Wilderness Centre is the venue for our Year 4 Programme. This large property situated on the Mulgrave River in the Goldsbrough Valley provides an opportunity for students to camp out by the river, staying in tents and communing under tarps. The Year Four programme focuses on working in teams and doing your best through activities including; low ropes, mini-rafting, team building games and assisting in the running of the camp. Students also participate in environmental games, hiking and lots of swimming in both still and moving water.

Year 5 Camp - Three Days, Two Nights at Camp Tinaroo

Students return to Camp Tinaroo in Year Five for a completely different programme. Team work again is a focus along with friendship and respect. Students participate in a canoeing skills session prior to a mini-expedition across part of Lake Tinaroo. Basic navigation is taught and tested along with teamwork through a navigation de-coding exercise. Other activities include hiking to Bushrangers Bluff, team games, initiative challenges and assisting with food preparation and clean up.

Year 6 Camp - Four Days, Three Nights in Chillagoe

Camping in tents at Chillagoe, students navigate their way around Chillagoe visiting the museum, cemetery, and swimming at the local weir. Students receive a guided tour of various caves from National Parks guides, spend a day adventure caving in teams at a site out of Chillagoe, learn local history, visiting the sight of the old Chillagoe Smelter, viewing the Solar system through telescopes at the Chillagoe Observatory and learning about early settlers and mining exploration.

Year 7 Camp - Three Days, Two Nights at Djarragun Wilderness Centre

Students return to the Wilderness Centre property to utilise this as a base for advancing overnight hiking expedition skills, flat and moving water paddling in canoes, cooking on small stoves in groups and an emphasis on debriefing and self and group dynamics awareness. This programme ramps up student's skills and abilities in readiness for the much more demanding Year 8 and 9 programmes in the senior school.