Outdoor and Adventure

Essential to the goal of educating young women and men of character is immersing students in real-world activities. Throughout the Primary and Secondary Years, students can explore their adventurous side through camps, outdoor education, international trips and cultural tours.

Adventure builds character; it encourages students to reach personal goals, develop a sense of self-reliance, responsibility and resilience.

Adventure builds collaboration skills; it implores students to work as a team and be mindful of the world around them. By fostering cultural and environmental awareness, students understand the power and responsibility of their own actions, while having an amazing time.

International Trips

At the core of our ethos is Global Citizenship, and a wide range of international trips on offer supports the students to develop a deeper understanding of their world.

International trips are aimed at giving students the confidence to respond to a variety of learning situations outside the classroom. Some international experiences are annual service projects, others are opportunities linked to Cultural Exchange, Language Development and specific co-curricular programs. Approximately 10 – 12 international trips take place each year. Approximately five international trips take place each year. In recent years these have included:

• Battlefields and Arts & Culture tours to Europe
• Sports tours to Japan, USA and the UK
• Round Square International Conferences
• the annual Cambodia Service Project
• Language and Culture trip to China

Cultural Exchanges

Continuing with the theme of Global Citizenship, Ivanhoe Grammar School offers Student Exchange opportunities to students in Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11. There is a very specific process which must be followed when co-ordinating a student exchange, as the exchange must be organised by a VRQA registered exchange organisation.

Students are placed in homestay arrangements where they will be immersed in diverse living situations overseas. For a reciprocal arrangement, the student is then given the opportunity to act as a host to an international visitor.

Student Exchange is such a wonderful experience for students to develop an appreciation of different cultures and races, but also a deeply personal exchange between two cultural counterparts. It is an opportunity for students to live out Maya Angelou’s famous words: We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.

Outdoor Education

Students experience adventure in a local environment through an exciting mix of adventure activities in a range of regional and urban environments. This program encourages students to take risks in safe environments so they can learn to become accountable for their own actions.

The exciting Outdoor Education program develops outdoor and environmental skills through activities such as bushwalking, camping, bushcraft, sea-kayaking, rafting, mountain biking, canoeing, abseiling, rock climbing and caving. These activities are carried out in natural settings: forests, mountains, rivers, coastal and urban environments.

The Outdoor Education program fully supports the curriculum at every level and is conducted by fully trained professional outdoor educators in conjunction with specialist providers.

Camps

Year level and specialist camps are conducted from Year 4 through to Senior Years. Camps are designed to support curricular and co-curricular learning by applying concepts to real life situations. Camps provide students with the opportunity to build and extend their social circles, work on teamwork and resilience and take their newfound skills back to the classroom. Examples of recent camps include: Year 4 and 5 Land and Water Program at Angahook, Year 7 Transition, Year 8 Courage and Collaboration and the Year 10 Adventure and Retreat Camp which culminates in the Overnight Solo experience.

Along with Year Level camps, sports and academic teams may undertake camps to develop skills or compete in inter-school or inter-state competitions.