Students at GBHS experience a wide range of learning opportunities outside the classroom. All year 9 students attend a 4 day camp in their first term at school. This is held at the schools own outdoor pursuits facility at Mahanga. Here the emphasis is on getting to know each other and working together in an environment with physical challenges. Activities include bushwalking, swimming, raft building, kayaking, surfing, orienteering and team building cooperative games. All camps are for 4 days duration with a different class attending each week of term1.
As year 10’s the boys get to choose from a range of different camp options. These are held in the last week of the school year. Camps include typical outdoor pursuits such as bushwalking at Lake Waikaremoana and adventuring in the Waioeka Gorge. For those who are less attracted to the wilderness there are the other options of the urban environment of Wellington or the tourist attractions of Rotorua. Local activities like surfing and fishing are also available.
School of Outdoor Pursuits
This is a senior course option for year 12/13 students who want to learn and gain credits in an outdoor pursuit’s environment. The course is 8 hours per week with 2 hour periods. The double periods allow for meaningful instruction and learning opportunities in a range of environments. The course offers 33 credits at level2/3 which are drawn from a number of different areas of learning. It includes a first aid certificate and gives the option to train as a pool lifeguard. Assessment activities include swimming, kayaking, surfing, bushwalking, a kayaking expedition and a winter tramping trip. The year’s course typically has a 50/50 split between theory and practical with all practical lessons being linked to assessments in some way.
Andrew Donaldson HOD