Outdoor Education

Te matauranga o waho

The Outdoor Education programme at East Otago High School offers students the opportunity to develop skills for a future of life time learning, building an awareness of the outdoors and the many challenges that students can face in a different environment to the classroom and resulting in personal growth.

Year 7 students begin the year attending camp Iona at Herbert. The purpose of this camp is for all new students to get to know one another through many organised activities whilst being assisted by Year 13 Peer Support students. Activities include abseiling, canoeing, yachting, archery, target shooting and a camp out, along with many team building activities.

Senior students venture to one of our countries most beautiful landscapes in the South Island, where EOHS has its own Lodge based 3 kilometres on the Queenstown side of Glenorchy. Views look out over Lake Wakatipu, up the Rees/Dart valleys and down to the Greenstone Gates. Over many years East Otago High school students have attended memorable camps at Years 9, 10, 12 and13. Programmed activities include tramping, kayaking, and abseiling, archery, shooting, orienteering, rafting, river safety as well as many team building activities.

Instruction over the week long is assisted by Adventure Southland Ltd, staff at EOHS and parents or past parents with expertise in tramping in the Glenorchy area.

East Otago High School is very fortunate to owns its own outdoor lodge based in Glenorchy. This is a wonderful facility, secured and upgraded through the hard work of many from the East Otago community, is currently under development, with stage one being completed a couple of years ago. Consent for stage two has been granted and the school is seeking funding to complete the second stage which will see new sleeping quarters added to the already completed kitchen and ablutions.

This facility is on the door step of so many leisure time facilities and is a very popular venue for our Year 9 and 10 school camps. The facility is also available for private use by members of the East Otago community.