Expeditions
While our expedition programme starts in Grade 1 with a sleepover at school and culminates in Grade 11 with the independently planned Project Week, from the first week of kindergarten, regular opportunities are intentionally provided for students to explore the natural, growing, creative and social spaces of the outdoor environments on both campuses. On-campus activity is then extended through a range of field trips that encourage students to form connections in meaningful contexts within the wider Singapore landscape. Eventually, this extends to also include participation in the expedition programme.
Our expedition programme operates from an ethos of 'Challenge of Choice.' This principle refers to each participant's responsibility to choose their own level of risk-taking in the learning experience. Based on the belief that significant learning occurs when you push out of a known 'comfort zone,' our team also recognise 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.
COVID-19 impact
During the 2021/2022 school year we adapted our programme in response to Covid-19 restrictions on international travel. We delivered a ‘Local Plus’ model, with on-campus experiences and off-campus trips in Singapore. These experiences retained the learning for students, while giving them the opportunity to experience Singapore in new ways. This was part of an evolution of the Outdoor Education programme towards a ‘blended model’ combining overseas trips with an increased provision of local and campus-based experiences, keeping both learning for students and sustainability concerns as our focus. As Singapore and regional countries have opened up again, we are thrilled that in the 2022/2023 school year, we have been able to reintroduce overseas travel to the Outdoor Education programme for our students starting in Grade 3.