Hillbrook Anglican School

Outdoor Education is an integral part of Hillbrook's curriculum, and all students are involved in the program over their five years here.

The program is run by our qualified Outdoor Education staff who have carefully designed the experiences to beprogressively challenging and to provide opportunities for students to develop self-confidence and trust in a supportive environment.

The Inside Story

Outdoor Education is an exciting and dynamic area of learning, reflecting the holistic nature of education at Hillbrook Anglican School very well. One of the features of Hillbrook that helps it stand apart is the way Outdoor Education is valued amongst students and staff. It is truly infused into school culture.

The fun and experiential nature of outdoor education makes it a very powerful medium to grow and learn. At Hillbrook a carefully designed outdoor education program aims to help students learn what it means to be part of a community; including how and why it is so important to care for the social and natural environment. It is about contributing to the wonderful natural places we visit in South East Queensland (and further a field), not just about using them as resources for our enjoyment or growth. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their actions; the outdoors certainly is a rich environment for such lessons with controlled natural consequences being a powerful reinforcer.

Empathy, awareness and collaboration are more highly valued than physical prowess. This is not to say that succeeding on a climb that was at first seen as impossible, or negotiating a canoe down some rapids cannot provide worthwhile learning – physical challenge can be catalyst for personal growth. It is however, more important that students learn how to contribute to an environment where individuals are valued for their uniqueness and are rewarded for their endeavours.
Encouraging students to step out of what is known and familiar and taking a controlled risk is a key to success of outdoor education. Often it is what makes the experience memorable. This challenge could be physical in nature, but just as importantly could be social or emotional. Exploring nature in canoes, on foot, in sea kayaks and while underwater are just some of the ways challenging situations are provided.

The vast majority of camp experiences at Hillbrook involve students sleeping in tents and cooking their own meals. This allows flexibility to experience many different environments. In the course of a student’s life at Hillbrook a diverse range of natural places are visited. Misty mountain vistas of Lamington, glassy rivers with surprising reflection of the Upper Noosa River, strange granite formations at Girraween and sunrises over the ocean are all scenes a student at Hillbrook has the chance to marvel at.

Experience alone cannot be relied upon to provide these learning. Structured reflection about, and processing of the experiences is a key component of Hillbrooks’ Outdoor Education Program. There are many ways experiences are processed; sometimes in fairly formal debriefing processes, often in informal conversations between staff and small groups of students, at times it is done naturally amongst students during and after activities. Quiet times or a controlled “solo” experience provides opportunity for internal processing of experience, and painting is occasionally used to help students do this.

Sue Pattemore and Andrew Devenish are two specialists in the field of Outdoor Education and together they share the coordination of the Outdoor Education Department. With specialist qualifications that exceed the needs of the program and years of teaching experience in the outdoors, both have a passion for sharing natural places with students while maintaining their own areas of skill and personal outdoor interest. While Sue is not working you could probably catch her in an outrigger canoe in the waves off the coast, while you might have to climb a rock or paddle a river to catch Andrew.

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