Junior Expeditions

Designed to challenge convention and be bold in its endeavours, the Expeditions Program is a defining feature of the Junior School experience. This is not a ‘co-curricular’ offering but a series of adventurous experiences to enhance and deepen academic learning and personal growth. These are journeys with purpose.

Alongside the signature multi-day Expeditions to significant environments across Victoria and beyond, students also take part in timetabled Outdoor Learning lessons with their core teacher and specialised Outdoor Learning educators. This means that learning is tangible, practical and connected to the real world.

Learning goes beyond the classroom - it is also about being outdoors, engaging with, and learning from nature.

The Expedition experiences are purposefully designed and sequential, beginning in Kindergarten and culminating in the signature seven-day Year 6 Expedition, Canberra+, where students summit Mt Kosciuszko - Australia’s highest peak.

With so many rich Expedition experiences on offer, it’s hard to list them all - but some of the highlights include:

Tending and developing the student-led Junior School Vegetable Garden.
Observing the night sky through our state of the art telescope.
Camping in the heritage listed Villa Alba Gardens
Marine snorkel discovery at Rickett’s Point
Bushwalking Expeditions to Lake Mountain Alpine Area
Connecting with Indigenous culture in situ at Merri Creek
Yr 4 Multi day Expedition in Ocean Grove which includes surfing and kayaking
Yr 5 Multi day Expedition to Lake Eildon
Yr 6 Multi day Expedition to Canberra and Kosciusko National Park.

As a College, we are seeking to break new ground in the area Experiential Learning. We have reimagined and developed our Experiential Learning across the entire College. But all great adventures need a map. This is ours…

expeditionmap2024

Kindergarten – PLAY – Extraordinary learning in extraordinary settings.

With the development of reimagined nature play spaces at the Junior School, our kindergarten immerse themselves in nature every day. Our program encourages children to observe the world around them and by experiencing it directly opens their senses and cognitive function in ways that learning indoors cannot achieve - exploring, learning and playing.

Prep to Year 2 – DISCOVER – Experience more. Learn more. Be more.

Intrinsically linked with what they are learning in the classroom, students have timetabled Outdoor Learning Lessons with specialist Outdoor Learning teachers. Come rain, hail or shine, students our out discovering, experiencing and learning more. Learning in and with nature.

Year 3 and Year 4 – SPARK – Spark Curiosity. Ignite Learning.

At the heart of the SPARK program is the unique narrative of ‘A Story of a River’. All of the experiences at this stage have a tangible link to the Yarra River which meanders past our Burke Hall Campus. Continuing with their regular specialist Outdoor Learning classes, our students explore and build a close connection with our locals lands and waters – from single day Expeditions to multiday camps.

Year 5 and 6 – GROW – You are the seed. We are the gardeners. This is the garden.

Burke Hall is fertile soil. This program has been designed to explicitly encourage our students to grow. As part of the GROW program, we explore a board range of themes. In Year 5 we examine concepts such as being ‘Planted’ in a new place and developing ‘Support Structures’ during various experiences including a multiday camp in the Rubicon Valley, near Eildon. In Year 6, we explore topics of ‘Maturing’ and building resilience during ‘Stormy Weather’. This culminates in a 6 day Expedition to Canberra and the Kosciuszko National Park with every student summiting the roof of Australia to ‘Florish and Celebrate’.

You are invited to discover eXtraordinary.

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