Learning Areas > Outdoor Education
About the Learning Area
Outdoor Education at Carey is a sequential program from Prep through to Year 9; with an optional Year 11 Leadership component. Students engage with diverse natural environments across Victoria, each experience offering a progressive learning opportunity through living in the outdoors and participating in a breadth of adventure activities.
Across all programs, students are encouraged to strive to be wise, independent, motivated learners. Immersion in varied environments fosters opportunities for personal growth, self-management and reflective thinking. Central to this development are Carey’s core values of Care, Respect and Growth, which guide the way students interact with one another, with staff, and with the communities and environments they encounter.
The Outdoor Education program aims to build meaningful partnerships between students, the communities visited and the local environment. These partnerships are explored through three key lenses: is presented in 3 key areas:
These partnerships are grounded in an expectation that students will:
Students are encouraged to identify meaningful ways they can contribute positively to the environment. Through this, they develop an understanding of actions that support sustainable patterns of living - meeting the needs of the present while safeguarding the needs of future generations. Living and working in small communities during Outdoor Education programs further strengthens this learning, as students experience firsthand the importance of shared responsibility, cooperation and thoughtful decision making. By focusing on environmental protection and striving for a world that is ecologically, socially, culturally and economically just, students learn to act with awareness and integrity. These experiences help them grow as good people and great learners, engaging with their surroundings in ways that reflect stewardship, harmony and informed community-minded action.
Spending time playing and exploring the outdoors across each year level allows students to gain an appreciation of the natural world and their place within it, giving them an understanding of the layered histories and cultures of the areas through which they travel. Discussions and learning activities allow students to think critically about how these concepts inform their own world views and cultural belief systems.
Students learn about the local First Nations Peoples, including the historic and contemporary impacts of colonisation on these communities. Extended immersion in specific environments supports deeper engagement with the belief systems that connect people physically and spiritually to Country. This fosters a richer understanding of First Nations ways of being, knowing, thinking and doing.
Ultimately by instilling the values of Care, Respect and Growth through meaningful, lived experiences, Outdoor Education provides an ideal environment for students to develop a lifelong connection with the natural world and contribute to a sustainable future.
