Outdoor Ed – Muir

Snorkelling – Effective Communication

At the beginning of the first semester, our class was focusing on snorkelling, so for the first few weeks, we practiced basic skills in the aquatic center before eventually travelling to the Omeo shipwreck and finally Rottnest. During these trips, we had to develop and display some specific capabilities that would help in getting the best out of each excursion. The one ability that I thought could’ve been the most important was effective communication. This would ensure that each of us could understand and communicate with each other more smoothly and sufficiently. To achieve this goal, we practiced signs that we could use underwater with our buddies, we participated in team building activities that acted as an ice-breaker and we perfected necessary skills with our buddies. Although these don’t seem like they could’ve helped us, however, they really made a difference to us as a group and it showed.

Archery – Resilient

A little way through the second term our class began archery. Every Friday we would go to the oval at the back of the school and Mary (our archery instructor) would help us learn to properly shoot. However, I was not very accurate in the first few lessons and I barely hit the target at all. Because of this, I needed to show a lot of resilience while practicing rather than giving up and not trying at all. On occasion, I would also hit my arm after letting go of the string or hurt myself while shooting, which would only help to discourage my efforts. Considering these factors, I believe I displayed a large amount of resilience during these weeks by continuously working hard to achieve my best.

Orienteering – Problem Solving

Towards the end of term one our class began orienteering. At first we only watched videos and did small activities in the classroom, however, during term two, we began completing courses at the school and eventually finishing courses at Manning Park. Throughout all of these, our whole class had to show a lot of control and problem-solving. Every point would be hidden in a specific spot but the map would show a ten to twenty meter radius from the point. This makes it a lot harder to find every point, especially on a time limit of, which was, at the most, 80 minutes. We would also have to make sure we were checking the map every few minutes, however, at one point we did get lost, so, we looked around and moved to higher ground to get a better view of the park. In both of these situations I believe we displayed a lot problem-solving, eventually finding the answer.