Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Expeditions for Years 9 to 12

The following expeditions are available during Terms 3 and 4. Information packs can collected from the OED office, on Inspire at Play@West Outdoor Education or follow the links below.

Website Home Page: https://inspire.westminster.sa.edu.au/Play/OutdoorEducation/Pages/default.aspx

Friday 27 September to Tuesday 1 October - Four days of rockclimbing at the world famous Mt Arapiles in Victoria. Suitable for Bronze to Gold students with prior rockclimbing experience.

Friday 27 September to Tuesday 1 October - Four days of bushwalking on Kangaroo Island along the world famous Wilderness Trail. Suitable for Bronze to Gold students.

Sunday 27 to Tuesday 29 October - Three days of kayaking on the scenic back waters of Katarapko Creek between Berri and Loxton in the Riverland. Suitable for Bronze and Silver and a great introduction for Westventure.

InterHouse Canoe Polo

Week 4 saw the annual House Canoe Polo competition take place, coinciding with National Outdoor Education week. The students’ passion for the games and their houses allowed for a successful and smooth week of fierce competition. All 10 houses competed with teams of up to eight players, displaying the great depth of kayaking ability within the school. The tournament gave Outdoor Education students the chance to show off their skills as canoe polo is used in class to develop paddling technique, boat handling and self-rescue rolling skills. The first half of the week saw some big wins and big upsets providing exciting entertainment for the many spectators.

A rule change for the finals competition allowing players to push over other players when they had possession of the ball, created a more exciting match and helped to better determine the winner with most students capable of hand rolling under pressure. Both matches were tight and full of suspense until the end.

In summary the week went down extremely well with Forder crowned the eventual champions, seeing Kelly in second place, with Fricker and Carter respectively placed in third and fourth positions. As a side note it was also especially pleasing to see the number of students who attended the grand finale with the whole pool area filled to capacity. Thanks goes to all involved in organising teams and coming out to watch, and especially Dan McArthur ('18) who organised the event

Duke of Edinburgh's Award Adelaide Hills Climbing trip

Over thirty students are involved in this exciting activity this weekend with students ranging from first time Year 8 students to experienced Year 11 Outdoor Education students. Many of the assistants helping with the whole running of events are current Year 12 Outdoor Education students working on their industry qualifications.

Year 12 Outdoor Self Reliant Expeditions

The three Year 12 classes have been busy completing their final expeditions for 2019. So far the classes have been rock climbing at Mt Arapiles or scuba diving on the South Coast during Term 1, sea kayaking along the South Coast in June, and in small groups conducted skiing in Victoria, bushwalking in the Flinders and sea kayaking off Yorke Peninsula over the month of July.

The expeditions are a prelude to their environmental investigations which are 2,000 words in length and worth 30% of their grade.

View the video at the link below which was prepared by students and highlights the range of activities they have undertaken.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_QSkm4do6k

Year 8 and 9 Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Program

Over 90 students from Year 8 and 9 have taken up the challenge of the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award program in 2019. So far, students are working on completing their practice expeditions, started to record their winter sport as their physical recreation section, have nominated a hobby/skill activity and are actively seeking community service activities. Other expedition opportunities are available in Term 3 from the list above.

All students have to record their activities on the new ORB (online registration book).

Thanks to Julie Engelhardt and Rob McLean ('99) for their facilitation with the program.

If students still wish to ‘sign-up’ they need to visit the OED office for details or contact me via Email.

Information about the Award can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX09zAStCGg or the Westminster version can be viewed at https://inspire.westminster.sa.edu.au/Play/OutdoorEducation/Pages/default.aspx

Film submissions - 2019 WOSOG (Westminster Old Scholar Outdoor Group) Film Festival

We are looking for films you have created that capture recent outdoor action, adventure or have environmental themes. Films capturing Outdoor Education camps and Duke of Edinburgh's Award trips are certainly welcomed, along with other preferred personal activities or adventures.

The WOSOG Film Festival will be on Sunday 15 September. It is an evening to celebrate and share recent outdoor experiences and achievements.

Entries (10 minutes maximum) will need to be submitted by the beginning of September.

This will be the fourth year we have run the event and we plan for it to be the biggest and best yet – hoping for over 100 guests this year.

There are first ($100), second ($50) and third ($25) Paddy Pallin gift voucher prizes, plus a guaranteed minimum $50 Paddy’s voucher for the best student video – judged by a Paddy Pallin staff member.

Any queries, please contact Mr Rob McLean ('99).

Please advise me if you intend to submit a film (whether it is finished or currently a work in progress).

Gordon Begg
Head of Outdoor Education