WET AND WILD
The joys and pitfalls of water based camps.
Plenty of school camps involve getting wet, probably because most kids love a good splash down and it is far removed from the usual school curriculum. In or on the water, opportunities for educational experiences abound and as obvious as the physical benefits of these types of activities are, there are many more subtle messages that can be water borne.
The tall ship One and All, based in South Australia, is perhaps one of the most dramatic water based experiences being offered to secondary school students. According to Program Manager Ron Parker, their activities are based on experiential learning through critical thinking, collaboration and cooperation in packages ranging from half and full day adventures to five or seven day voyages.
“We replicate a small community on board,” explains Ron. “Students are divided into three ‘watches’ and we usually require at least three teachers, one for each watch, as a familiar face and point of reference for the kids. Some are going to be seasick, so it is important that there is someone familiar to comfort them.”
He stresses that the One and All experience is not sail training, although the students are taught how to rig and sail the ship. “It is more about the process,” he says. “There are no punishments on board. It is quite different to other programs as they are not forced to do anything – they find their place. We find students learn how to appreciate others and start to acknowledge the different skills each of them has and truly understand the meaning of multi-skilled.”
The voyage starts with an hour and a half of motoring from the ship’s mooring place in the Port River to the open sea. This time is spent inducting the new crew into the safety requirements of the voyage including fire drills and man overboard drills. Once at sea, the sails go up and students are involved in tacking and turning the ship. From a safety perspective, Ron says the tall ship is covered by not just national but international maritime law and carries the same level of maritime survey as the major international passenger liners. “We are a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” he says. “Although we keep it out of the view of the students, we have top satellite navigation equipment available on board and can have a chopper out to the boat within 30 minutes, no matter where we are, if required, although in the eyes of the students, they are on a genuine 18th Century sailing ship.”
Ron says the program is based on working with students’ strengths. “We have gone right away from the ‘break them down, build them up’ idea. We do lots of briefing and debriefing of each experience and keep them busy and amused with things like ship Olympics and onboard opera. We find being up at the crack of dawn, running the ship and doing night watch, if they have any spare time, they sleep.”
On longer voyages, the students are given an opportunity to take over from the crew on day four. “We stop off at a deserted beach and clean it up for Clean Up Australia and while we’re onshore, they nominate a captain. As soon as we re-board the ship, they are in control and usually they do a great job. We have had the boat go around in circles for a whole morning, but eventually they work it out and we only intervene if there is a risk. Then they sail the ship home.”
Comments from teachers following experiences on One and All show that the trip empowers students to take a greater leadership role in both their school and the wider community. “They tell us kids return with a greater sense of purpose,” says Ron, who recommends a One and All voyage for early high school students, as it is a time of critical transition, and then again in year 10 or 11, when students need resolve to make key decisions about their academic path.
Focussing more on getting kids into the water rather than on it, the school program at the West Lakes Aquatic Centre in South Australia takes primary aged students through an intensive experience of a range of water sports in one and a half hour blocks, with a focus on water safety. Ross Ogilvie, manager of the centre, has been taking kids through the program for 30 years and says it is not really about teaching them the skills but equipping them with the knowledge they will need for safe water based recreation.
“The trick is to be teaching them when they don’t realise it,” he says. “We’re always asking them ‘what do you do if…’, teaching them to think about things like the weather and how it will affect them in the water, for example an offshore or an onshore breeze.”
Ross says he is amazed how kids shine in the program. “ It’s not always the big sporty types either,” he adds. “For example, windsurfing is 70 percent theory and 30 percent balance. We try to nurture kids working together too. In one exercise the kids have to build a raft then we get them to hold hands and pull all their rafts together then stand up and see how stable they are as a group.”
Considering that more than 80 percent of Australia’s population live within 20 kilometres of the water, teaching students about safety in the water would appear a very logical choice and Ross says he is often surprised at the lack of exposure some students have had to water sports prior to attending the course. However, under the guise of a fun experience with their peers, students leave, wet and weary but much wiser about how to enjoy themselves safely in the water.
