St Augustine’s College

St Augustine’s College, Sydney was founded in 1956 and is a Catholic school for boys located in Brookvale, New South Wales. The school educates boys from Years 5 to Year 12 in the Augustinian tradition, supporting them to live with others and equipping them with the skills to make the world a better place. Two of the school’s guiding principles are interiority (stillness and reflection) and humility.

The College believes connection with the outdoors builds humility and allows for powerful self-reflection.

Prior to 2012, St Augustine’s was providing yearly camps to students which were focused on activity rather than outcome, limited to urban environments and in taking entire year levels out in a single group, experiences could become challenging.

The school’s leadership firmly believed in the value of outcome-focused programs. They wanted their students to connect with different environments, develop a sense of perspective and explore physical, emotional and spiritual challenges aligning with the school’s vision.

St Augustine’s College hoped to transform outdoor education to sit at the forefront of their curriculum rather than being a few nights away at a recreational centre. The College considered it vital for their values and vision to create the foundation of their outdoor education offering.

The College wanted to provide their students with truly meaningful experiences but identified they could not do this without partnering with an outdoor education provider.

St Augustine’s College wanted a provider who offered highly considered journey programs and expert facilitation through trained Outdoor Educators. The leadership team considered The Outdoor Education Group the industry leader in planning and safety.

The Outdoor Education Group provides St Augustine’s College with a suite of programs building on their student’s skills from one year to the next. With access to a variety of natural spaces and National Parks, The Outdoor Education Group offers dynamic journey programs, which include various adventure activities along the way.

With reflection a vital part of each program and allowing for moments of interiority, the team at St Augustine’s College felt confident their school’s vision and values were being honoured and carried through to their outdoor education programming.

The College appreciated having a direct liaison within The Outdoor Education Group, allowing them to overtly discuss student outcomes and make alterations to programs.

The school has witnessed students with some reservations heading to camp and returning with a greater sense of confidence and accomplishment. School staff observe students connecting and interacting with each other in powerful ways and note their own relationships with their students are stronger.

Furthermore, the school feels their outdoor education offering supports their students’ wellbeing, with results from their annual social and emotional surveys correlating to many of their student wellbeing indicators.

The College’s teaching staff feel confident in relying on The Outdoor Education Groups Educators and their ability to connect with their students. Partnering with The Outdoor Education Group also means programs focus strongly on the things the school consider essential- communication, community building and generating positive emotions.