P4 Outdoor Adventure Camp

P4 Outdoor Adventure Camp

Introduction

Every year, our Primary 4 students are given the opportunity to learn life and outdoor living skills through Outdoor Education in Physical Education. With the theme Dare to Dream, the outdoor adventure camp aims to inculcate in our students values such as resilience and respect as well as to build teacher-student relationships. Students also learn to be independent and confident as they practise the school-wide 7 Habits throughout the camping experience.    

The design of the Outdoor Adventure Camp and the learning experiences created for our students are captured below.

Pre-Camp Experience

Beginning with the end in mind, a camp briefing was conducted for all Primary 4 students by our PE teachers.  Students were briefed on:

• Objectives of the camp
• Safety matters during the camp
• Packing list
• Expected activities during the camp
• Pre-camp reflection

A Camp T-shirt Design Competition was held in collaboration with the Art Department, where the students expressed their creativity and what they envisioned of the camp through their design. The winning entry was selected and printed on the camp T-shirt, instilling a sense of pride and ownership for their work as they look forward to the camp.

##### **3D2N Outdoor Adventure Camp Experience: Dare to Dream 2018** Each year, P4 students will get to apply their knowledge, skills and attitudes learnt during Outdoor Education PE lessons in an authentic context through a residential camp away from home.  This year, we had the opportunity to camp at MOE Dairy Farm Outdoor Adventure Learning Centre (DFOALC) and learn from MOE Outdoor Adventure Educators (OAEs) as our facilitators. ##### **Key Takeaways** The essence of the camp was brought out through the challenges experienced by the students. They forged bonds with their classmates through team building games, navigation activity, high and low elements, night walk as well as preparing their own sandwiches. Students learnt to ignite their 5 senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste) as they immerse themselves in nature.
| | | | |:---:|:---:|:---:| | Settling in on Day 1 | Washing up after a meal | Students listening to the sounds of nature | #### **7 Habits in Action** ##### **Habit 3: Put First Things First** Before starting the high elements activities, our students practised Habit 3: Put First Things First by ensuring that the safety harness and helmet were worn securely before embarking on play.
| | | |:---:|:---:| | Safety First! | Encouraging one another on the High Elements | ##### **Habit 4: Think Win-Win** During one of the team building activities, students practised Habit 4: Think Win-Win by working together to problem solve and help each other scale over the high wall. Students felt a sense of accomplishment once they managed to get their group mates over the wall!

##### **Precious Moments Captured** Our leaders in action immersed themselves fully in all the activities. Those precious memories were not lost as members of each group took turns to capture the moments.
Photos by our in-house young photographers
Navigation and Journey ##### **Habit 5: Seek First To Understand Then To Be Understood** Gathering around the fire, students practised Habit 5: Seek First To Understand Then To Be Understood, by listening attentively to their peers who shared their views and feelings on the camp experience. Each student took turns to share their reflections and showed appreciation to their group mates including teachers and OAEs.
Campfire reflections of learning and notes of appreciation to fellow groupmates, teachers and facilitators Many students shared that they have learnt to overcome their fears of height and darkness, as well as developing a sense of responsibility and independence. The students also reflected on the importance of teamwork and have become more resilient through the various challenging activities. Every student learnt perspective-taking through listening to the diverse opinions and all gained a better understanding of themselves, their peers and the environment. ##### **Habit 7 : Sharpen The Saw** Before marking the end of the 3 days 2 nights camp, students practised Habit 7: ‘Sharpen The Saw’ by making their own healthy sandwich for breakfast and learnt to be socially responsible by performing the final area cleaning to ensure the campsite was clean and ready for other users.
| | | | |:---:|:---:|:---:| | Sandwich making for Breakfast! | Final reflections before end of camp | Area cleaning before heading home |
Post Camp Reflections ##### **Post-Camp Experience** _Collaboration with the English and ICT departments_
The camp may have concluded, but the experience lived on. In collaboration with the English and ICT departments, our Primary 4 students leveraged on their rich camping experience and shared their learning through their post-camp reflection writing assignment. Students synergised and collaborated through Google Slides as they worked on the assignment.
Students collaborating on their Google slide presentation ##### **Sharing at Student-led Conference** Finally, students had the opportunity to share their camping experience with their parents during the recent Student-led Conference.  Students presented their learning and reflections of the camp to their parents with joy and confidence.
Student Led Conference 2018 It has been a truly enriching experience for the students and will definitely be one of the highlights of their Primary 4 learning experience in Horizon Primary School.