Published on: 23 April 2014




Year 7 boys spent four days at Kooringal during March and April as part of the School’s comprehensive Outdoor Education program. The aim of the camp was to enhance boys’ awareness of self and living with others, and to build on their outdoor and camping skills.

The Year 7 experience, the precursor to the Leeuwin Adventure in Year 8 and a stepping-stone towards the Year 10 Venture, is for many boys their first taste of the School’s outdoor education home base Kooringal near Dwellingup.

Boys attended the camp in house groups – two houses at a time – where the experience began with either an expedition or activities based around Kooringal. Here they were introduced to the facility, played initiative games and began learning the ins and outs of packing their own backpack.

Assistant Director of Kooringal Ryan Myles said the expedition included a 3km bushwalk to a campsite where they spent their first night – setting up their own tents and cooking their own meal over a camp stove. The next day they rafted back along the Murray River to Kooringal.

“Meanwhile, the second group were kept busy with a variety of activities from abseiling and raft building through to learning about their place within the environment, bush skills and improving their local Indigenous knowledge,” Mr Myles said.

On the final night, the boys got another opportunity to camp in the neighbouring paddock to Kooringal. Special visitors included Headmaster Garth Wynne and other members of the School Executive, as well as Heads of House who joined the boys for final night.