“Let the Mountains speak” is one of the central precepts in outdoor education. We could as well substitute the Sea, or the Forest, or the Desert. The skilled and wise outdoors instructor places the student in one of these primal theatres of Nature, the risks carefully managed and the student open to a deepening of personal learning and growth far different from anything that can occur in the microcosm of an indoor classroom.

   Grade 10 students traditionally are the first group in Senior School to go out on the trail to experience the vastness of the stars, the sea and the elemental forces that have always shaped human life. The students mature through friendship and cooperation at the campfire and in the exertions of hiking, paddling and climbing. For many it is the moment of change and challenge that they have been awaiting all their young lives.

Robert Common, 12th Sept. 2012