Outdoor Education

By offering a wealth of outdoor educational experiences, UWCSEA enhances students' classroom experiences with cross curricular teaching and opportunities for learning outside of the classroom. Our philosophy applies to expeditions, residential trips, community programmes and after school activities.

Kurt Hahn, who inspired the UWC movement, believed that education should have the effect of drawing from students a greater range of skills and talents than they knew they possessed. Kurt Hahn's motto was ‘Plus est en vous' - there is more in you than you think.

This is one of the foundations of adventure-based learning.

'Challenge of Choice' policy
This refers to the participant's responsibility to choose their own level of risk-taking in the learning experience. It is based on the belief that significant learning occurs when one pushes oneself out of a known ‘comfort zone', while at the same time recognising that each person's experience will be different.

This encourages respect for one another, the skill of making one's own choices free of peer-group pressure, and promotes an experience where everyone contributes to each other's choices and self esteem development.

Safety and working relationships
We continuously look to evolve our provision of outdoor education and be a leader in safety, learning and enjoyment. The Outdoor Education Department uses ‘best preferred practice' collated from experts around the world, enabling us to make informed decisions in the development of the College's outdoor education programme.

We enjoy good relationships with third party activity operators who meet our preferred provider status. Our annual Outdoor Education Conferences and technical advisor visits provide the latest training and workshops.