From the Field Studies Centre

The Year 9 Field Studies Residential Programme aims to challenge students to step out of their comfort zone and discover capabilities that they may not have realised they had. The adventures have continued this week at Woollamia, with each of the three groups heading out on their second expedition and the boys participating in an elective activity training day. The Marine group learnt how to rig their fishing rods and tested their skills at nearby Plantation Point. The Mountain Bikers went south for a day at the Ulladulla mountain bike park, which proved to be an ideal training ground for those students who wish to take their skills to the next level. And those students who selected the rock-climbing elective spent the day at a local indoor climbing gym in Woollamia, honing their techniques, building confidence and supporting their peers as a member of a belay team.

The School has identified four engagement indicators that can positively impact academic success: self-management, managing tasks, focusing on personal learning, and persistence. For the first time, engagement in the Field Studies Programme is being tracked, assessed and reported on alongside the other curriculum areas assessed in the Middle School. The carefully selected criteria for each domain are outlined below.

Self-Management

• Demonstrates respect for self, others, the environment, and the Field Studies Centre community
• Uses personal strategies to regulate emotion, manage behaviour, and empathise with others
• Contributes positively to teams and groups.

Self-Management

• Complete daily tasks
• Prepares for and fulfils assigned responsibilities in different contexts
• Accepts and meets expectations within assigned leadership roles.

Learning Focus

• Demonstrates commitment to personal development over time
• Interacts and collaborates with others to solve problems
• Sets goals, responds to feedback, and reflects upon both successes and failures for continual improvement.

Persistence

• Demonstrates resilience in new or unfamiliar experiences
• Develops and uses a range of strategies to achieve personal goals
• Embraces challenge and seeks opportunities to extend personal confidence.

Outdoor education and extended residential programmes more broadly, provide an ideal platform for the development of essential personal and social capabilities such as communication, resilience, self-confidence, leadership, teamwork, goal setting, personal autonomy, and initiative. The Field Studies Residential is much more than a stand-alone activity that students experience in Year 9. The rich, applied learning opportunities that each student encounters during his time at Woollamia are designed to provide opportunities for each boy to experience success and grow in confidence. These lessons are both timely and transferable. Each young man is encouraged to reflect on their time away and consider what they will take with them from the journey, during the final days of the programme.

Tim Knowles | Head of Field Studies Centre (FSC)