Outdoor Pursuits lessons are so much more than teaching your child about outdoor skills of “how to…climb or kayak”, camp-craft or improve their navigation skills. Rather it is a combination of technical skills (known as hard skills) and physical exercise, as well as team building, personal life skills training, leadership development (known as soft skills) and fun.
We use adventure and the outdoor programme to help facilitate the learning of what it means to be in a team, which qualities best suit successful leaders as well as helping to build morale and spirit in the team.
Part of this programme replaces the traditional Physical Education classes within the School day for Grades 8 to 10 and part of it constitutes voluntary extra-mural activities.
A typical Outdoor Pursuits lesson would include any of the following:
Kayaking on the school’s dam, rock climbing on indoor & outdoor climbing walls, navigation & orienteering in the Treverton Wildlife Area (TWA), camp craft & minimal-impact camping in the TWA, team building & leadership development using our obstacle course and mountain hiking training in areas of equipment, route planning & safety.
Pupils can work towards achieving the following NQF (National Qualifications Framework) aligned awards:
- Drakensberg Award
- Summit Award
- Traverse Award
- Kayaking Award
- Rock Climbing Award
As well as the following awards:
- Solitaire Award – camping solo for 48 hours
- Endurance Award (Road Running, Adventure Racing or Mountain Biking)
- Service Award
- Midmar Mile Award
- Polar Bear Award – jumping into the dam once a week, every week for a year
- Venture Award
These activities are fun and build self-motivation, encourage structured time in the outdoors, promote sensitivity to nature and help develop communication skills, physical skills and self-discipline.
Failure is not when you fall or don’t reach your goal but rather failure is when you don’t try at all.
Leadership, accountability, responsibility, team building, effective communication, developing self-confidence…oh and yes outdoor skills! We use adventure and the outdoor programme to help facilitate the learning of what it means to be in a team, which qualities best suit successful leaders as well as helping to build morale and spirit in the team.
