Outdoor Education

As always the Outdoor Education team has had a busy year. Successful programs have been run in various parts of Victoria, their chief focus to encourage boys to respect themselves, others and, of course, nature. The 7s have experience the Surf Coast of Victoria in various ways including surfing, bushwalking and snorkelling. A new and exciting program for the Year 9 level was held at the Grampians where the boys tested their nerve on a 50 metre abseil, their courage on a mountain bike ride and their endurance on a two-day overnight bushwalk. The Year 10s returned to the Cathedral ranges where they were faced with frosty conditions on Mt Sugarloaf before abseiling down cliffs, wriggling through caves, walking over crags and mountain biking for 30 kilometres. Year 8 returned to the same location of the You Yangs and Lorne where they spend 3 nights out in tents for the first time in the De La Salle camping program. We must not to forget the Primary levels, the snow sports and the VCE Outdoor and Environmental Studies students, who had a great variety of experiences in the short time frame of the year. Unfortunately the Outdoor Education department loses its two trainees Dom Farrell and Timothy Sim at the end of 2005. I would like to thank them for their tireless efforts. I would like to thank all students and staff for participating with so much enthusiasm and energy this year.

David Atkins Outdoor Education Coordinator