News from the Field Studies Centre

The final two weeks of the Term 2 Field Studies Programme are upon us. At the time of going to press, the boys will be at the end of day five of their final 6-day expedition. They will have explored some incredibly beautiful parts of Morton National Park, both on foot and by canoe. They will have supported their peers through difficult moments, cooked and cleaned up each night on the Trangia stoves and put into practice the outdoor skills they have been refining over the last eight weeks. The boys will have warmed themselves by the campfire at night and will have stepped even further outside their comfort zones, all the while under the watch of the skilled outdoor education staff. As the incredible rite of passage that is the term-long Field Studies Programme approaches its natural conclusion, the positive impact that it is having on each boy’s journey to manhood becomes clearer each day.

Each young man writes a reflection on their time on the FSP which is recorded on the front page of their end of term report. I feel privileged to be one of the first to read these reflections as it helps me to better understand just how much the boys have grown. Being away from home for a full term is challenging for the boys, their parents, siblings and broader family, and for their peers who remain in Sydney and who are either allocated to an FSP in one of the other three terms, or who might even attend a different school. However, the benefits are enormous. Not many young men will step through a rite of passage of this type during their formative high school years. Trinity’s young men will. They are part of a school that believes in the education of mind, body and spirit. They are part of a school that values character formation. They are part of something great.

Tim Knowles | Head of the Field Studies Centre (FSC)