CURRICULUM/TEACHING AND LEARNING

NON-CLASSROOM LEARNING EXPERIENCES: CAMPS, EXCURSIONS AND SPORTS

‘The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.’ -Ralph Waldo Emerson

With the busy pace of Term 2 even before we reach its halfway point, it is an appropriate time to acknowledge the immense value that camps, excursions and extra-curricular activities bring to our students. Term 2 has or will include camps for both Year 7 and 8, the Year 7 Zoo Excursion, the Year 8 Museum Excursion, the Athletics Carnival and a range of interschool sports.

While it may seem at times that such activities can be disruptive to learning time or interrupt the classroom routines of students, as educators we believe that the value is inimitable in the classroom. These experiences provide unique opportunities for personal growth, skill development, and the acquisition of knowledge that directly supports student learning.

Research into non-classroom learning experiences indicates that deliberately structured excursions to novel locations that are clearly linked to classroom learning can lead to both cognitive and affective learning. Benefits of moving students out of the comfort zone of school and into the real world that have been highlighted include “increased motivation or interest, sparking curiosity, or improved attitudes towards a topic” (DeWitt, J & Storksdieck, 2008).

As we prepare to invite our first cohort of Year 9 students to select their learning programs for 2024, it is worth considering the introductions to future professions that off-site activities offer, which can lead to career aspirations, part-time jobs, work experience program and professional contacts. They also expose pupils a different group of working adults with a diversity of personalities and teaching styles, which can enrich their engagement in the same topics when back in the classroom (McGenity et al., 2020).

At GSC we firmly believe in the transformative power of off-site experiences to enhance classroom learning, build resilience and help students become confident to venture outside of their comfort zones. These experiences bridge the gap between school and the outside world, promote critical learning skills, and ignite students’ excitement for their own future careers.

The College encourages you to support your child’s participation in these opportunities whenever they arise, as they are a building block to their academic success and empower them with the skills necessary to thrive in an ever-evolving world.

BENEFITS OF NON-CLASSROOM LEARNING EXPERIENCES

1. Applied Learning and Real-World Connections: students apply their classroom learning in real-world contexts and make connections between theoretical concepts and practical applications.
2. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: students encounter new situations and challenges, stimulating analytical thinking skills and the ability to think creatively to find solutions.
3. Memory Retention and Long-Term Learning: multisensory experiences outside the classroom encourage retention of information, create lasting memories and anchor knowledge, enabling students to recall and apply what they have learned over an extended period.
4. Motivation and Engagement: shared positive experiences on off-site trips promote connectedness to peers and school staff upon return. This improved sense of belonging is reflected in increased classroom participation and a willingness to take on academic challenges. Roles during events involving passion areas such as sport also create an opportunity for leadership experience to a wider range of students.
5. Collaboration and Communication Skills: collaborative activities with peers that occur more independently of teachers than in a classroom. Students who participate in camps activities and duties improve their teamwork and communication, and bring this learning back to classroom tasks.

DeWitt, J., & Storksdieck, M. (2008). A Short Review of School Field Trips: Key Findings from the Past and Implications for the Future. Visitor Studies, 11(2), 181–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/10645570802355562

McGenity, T. J., Gessesse, A., Hallsworth, J. E., Garcia Cela, E., Verheecke‐Vaessen, C., Wang, F., Chavarría, M., Haggblom, M. M., Molin, S., Danchin, A., Smid, E. J., Lood, C., Cockell, C. S., Whitby, C., Liu, S., Keller, N. P., Stein, L. Y., Bordenstein, S. R., Lal, R., & Nunes, O. C. (2020). Visualizing the invisible: class excursions to ignite children’s enthusiasm for microbes. Microbial Biotechnology, 13(4), 844–887. https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.13576