Outdoor Education in our SENIOR School

Story appeared in the 2013 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.

BY LEANNE SCHULTZ, OPERATIONS & HR MANAGER

As an integrated element of the QMS curriculum, senior students spend four days off campus every spring on an outdoor education trip.

Alexa Paoli navigates a rope course at Hornby Island

For many international boarders, these trips are their first opportunity to experience the wilderness settings of British Columbia. Victoria Huang, a Grade 11 student from China, explains, “In China, we don’t get many opportunities to hike and camp because there are not as many forest or wilderness areas. We slept in a tent, which was really fun…but it was cold at night!”

On these trips, students partake in “challenge by choice” activities that help to build upon their self-confidence, teamwork skills and appreciation for our environment. Each trip offers a progression of different skills: high ropes training and climbing, kayaking in the Gulf Islands, surfing the waves of Tofino, and paddling into the heart of Strathcona Park to camp amongst the stars.

These trips create memories and friendships that really do last a life-time. Incoming Deputy Head Girl Ellie Graham notes that “Outdoor Ed is a great way to bond with your classmates and make friendships with girls that you wouldn’t normally interact with at school.”

Robin Fleming, Alex Barnes, Bree Castle, Miyu Iishi at Hornby Island

Patricia Masur and Claire Champernowne surfing at Long Beach