Scotch College

Adventure and Leadership for Year 10s

The Adventure Programme is offered to all boys in Year 10 who do not elect to continue with Scouts or Cadets or join Sea Scouts.

The most important element is the camps, which take place at the end of Term 1 or Term 3, and are designed to provide the boys with an adventurous experience in the outdoors, while learning valuable recreational skills. These camps are led and instructed by Scotch staff, with valuable back up from outside specialists.

On Thursday afternoons, during Terms 1, 2 and 3, preparation is undertaken for these camps. If a boy has already completed a camp, various other activities are offered, designed to enhance a boy's experience of leisure pursuits. These include: archery, aerobics, roller blading, self defence, kayaking, cycling, First Aid bronze medallion, rock climbing.

If a boy wishes to continue in the Adventure Programme during years 11 and 12, he may undertake an Adventure Leadership Course under the guidance of Mr David Greenwood. This course is designed to train 36 boys, so that in Years 11 and 12 they become leaders on the various camps and expeditions. Most importantly, the Year 8 hiking programme, organised by Mr Prior, which places over 70 volunteers on various hikes. This year, over 240 boys were involved in the programme.

During Term 1, a number of expeditions took place. Mr Hurst and Mr Peters took a group of boys on a cycling tour of South Gippsland, enjoying beautiful weather and lovely scenery. Ms Macmillan and Mr Woolacott had a very successful sailing camp at Cowes. Mr Strohfeldt took some hardy adventurers on a sea kayak trip traversing the Gippsland Lakes.

Rock Climbers

The veteran rock climbers, Mr James and Mr Wheat, led a group of boys to tackle Mt Arapiles. Mr Bradbeer and Mr Braddy soaked up some spectacular weather and scenery on their trail ride on the Victorian High Plains, while Mr Galbraith and Mr Reidler, in similar country, had a very successful mountain bike ride on the Wabonga Plateau, near Mt Cobbler.

At the end of Term 3, the sailors, under Mr Holding and Mr Fisher at Cowes, enjoyed some excellent winds and spectacular sailing in Westernport. A self-defence camp was held at Buxton, led by Miss Rowland, and under the expert instruction of Mrs Anne Pang, learnt some valuable skills in Kung Fu.

Cycling Tour

Mr Barry and Mr Cracknell led a cycling tour of Northern Victoria along the Murray. Mr Muller and Mr Peckham enjoyed a variety of activities at Sorrento, including cycling, snorkling and scuba diving. In spite of the low water levels in the Thomson River, causing a change of venue to the Macalister River, Mr Stokes and Ms Stalker appreciated some good kayaking with reasonable weather.

Finally Mr Galbraith, Mr Pallot and Mr Walker led a group of boys on a challenging bushwalk on the Wabonga Plateau which, while a bit wet and miserable at times, was certainly memorable. Unfortunately our enthusiastic cross country skiers, Mr Parkin and Dr Boydell, were thwarted for their Bogong High Plains expedition, by a lack of snow.

The Adventure Leadership component is a key aspect of the whole programme. At the end of Term 4, 36 boys went through their paces, under the expert guidance of Kathryn Kelly and her team at Kaykaze. Scotch staff were represented by Master in Charge, Mr David Greenwood, Mr Graham Parkin, Mr John Taylor and Mr Doug Galbraith. The camp took place in the Alpine National Park above Licola and involved a challenging bushwalk, with a kayaking expedition on the Macalister River. In spite of the hot conditions and lack of water, the boys coped extremely well.

Also in the same area were our Scotch in the Alps (SCALPs) hikers, who hiked over some magnificent and rugged country, including Snowy Bluff, the Moroka Gorge, Lake Tali Karng and Mt Wellington. Our thanks to Mr Strohfeldt and Ms Stalker for leading this special voluntary hike and continuing the great tradition of SCALPs which has lasted for over 30 years.

The whole programme could not run without the enthusiastic support of Scotch Staff. It is a commitment they take on willingly, on top of all their other priorities, thus providing tremendous experiences for all the boys to look back on and, at the same time, enhancing their general development and all round education.