The value of Outdoor Education

We inherently know that participation in an outdoor education program works, and here at Emu Gully, the anecdotal evidence of significant positive change is tremendously encouraging. The following are just a couple of examples of the kind of feedback we regularly receive…

“Your staff did an amazing job with our students and they have come away with a sense of achievement, increased self-worth and a positive experience”. (Teacher)

“My name is Abby, my son Maverick participated in his first ever school camp at Emu Gully last week. Thank you to the team for providing such an inclusive, safe and supportive environment to allow Mav to participate. I can’t find the words to properly express how much I appreciate the flexibility shown and extra efforts made to enable the school staff and I had any support necessary to make his camp experience a positive and successful one. Your team have honestly made a long lasting impact on our lives - making the achievement of such a huge milestone for our family a truly enjoyable one”. (Parent)

“A special thank you for your hospitality, the learning experiences and fantastic camp staff members. We know that every single student enjoyed themselves and learned valuable lessons from the activities that they participated in. I have had classroom teachers come and tell me that the Year 7’s have been working as a team in their classes which is a testament to the patience, teaching capabilities and support that was provided by our camp facilitators” (Head Teacher)

Schools across the nation invest heavily in the holistic development of their young people providing a series of camp experiences for their students each and every year. The questions remain however… Why do camps work?, How do they work?, and Where is the evidence? 

At Emu Gully we are excited to announce that we are working with the Relational Schools Project to answer these questions. To date, the data has very clearly indicated that the development of young people is dramatically enhanced through positive relational proximity. That is, the better the relationship between students, between teachers and students and between teachers, students and outdoor education providers, the greater the positive results for young people. 

In simple terms Emu Gully provides an extremely positive environment for strengthening relationships. As our participants face a variety of challenging situations they learn about the strengths and weaknesses of both themselves and their mates. They develop a level of trust and respect for each other that can be applied in every aspect of their lives.  This is the very essence of mateship, and a core focus for all of us at Emu Gully as we work tirelessly to Shape Great Australians.