In term 1 Muir outdoor education went to Rottnest to go on a snorkelling excursion but to build up to our goal we had to use many capabilities to feel confident and be able to go on this excursion. In the first few lessons, we covered the basic skills so we could be trusted when snorkelling with our partners. Before we left for Rottnest we had to make sure we could bring the skills we learnt in the enclosed environment to the open environment and with the public. Then the day finally came where we got to leave for Rottnest. We left school and made our way to Rottnest on the ferry. When we arrived at Rottnest we wanted to spend as much time snorkelling and get straight into it so before leaving for Rottnest we had planned who our buddy was going to be and how we were going to get there so everyone knew a rough plan of what was going to happen that day. Everyone enjoyed their day in Rottnest and we saw many things while snorkelling, baby stingrays, seal and many amazing fish and coral. Some of the capabilities we had to focus on were being organised, problem-solving and leadership.
Problem Solving
Problem Solving is a very important trait to have because it can and probably will be used in any situation because not everything will go as planned for example someone could forget there snorkelling gear but you would have to work around it. So the person who forgot their gear would probably have to find someone in a separate group to borrow gear. But problem solving can help anywhere and everywhere.
Organisation
Organisation was very important for the Rottnest trip because we were going to be away for a whole day and we had to make sure we had everything that we needed like our snorkelling gear, enough food and water, towel etc. But that was not the only thing we had to organise we had to know who was in our group, when to get to school etc.
Leadership
Leadership is a big part of outdoor education because in outdoor ed they help you be more confident while leading people because they have the students lead a lot of activity’s and while at Rottnest the students had to lead the SAFE SNORKEL and numbering everyone off.
Leave No Trace
When going out into the environment you have to make sure you keep it safe and clean so it can still be there in 30 years time. To make sure this happens you can follow these 7 steps. 1- Plan ahead and prepare, make sure you know roughly what your plan is for the day for example where you are setting up, travelling make sure you know the area 2- Travel and camp on durable surfaces, try your best to use devolved trails in the area travelling off a path should only be done when absolutely necessary. 3- Dispose of Waste Properly, make sure not to litter because that can effect other people, water and wildlife. 4- Leave what you find, leave rocks, plants and other objects where you found them so other people can also experience a sense of discovery. 5- minimise campfire impacts, use wood that is on the ground not up in trees even if its dead and do not use large logs. 6- Respect wild life, observe from a distance, do not feed and make sure to store food properly and only touch wildlife when they are sick or injured 7- respect the public, make sure not to be to loud and make sure to clean up after yourself.