Here, Principal Nicola Jacobsen shares her thoughts.

Kia ora

The tragic events at Whangārei Boys have certainly been on my mind over the past week or so. As a College and community, our thoughts are with their community. Outdoor Education experiences are never without risk, and I want to focus in this week’s newsletter on the processes and systems we have in place at the College to help mitigate risks on all trips.

Our Outdoor Pursuits programme achieved Adventure Mark Certification last year. Adventure Mark assesses our documentation and programmes, and they attend our classes and observe how we manage health and safety in the outdoors. Adventure Mark continues to regularly assess our systems and processes to ensure we maintain certification standards.

Each trip that goes out is approved through our Education Outside the Classroom process. Teachers in charge of trips need to plan to mitigate risks, including the weather and transport. Once this is complete, the planning is checked to ensure that potential risks are planned for and strategies are in place to ensure safety. Changes in weather conditions are a factor that we monitor closely, and our plans can be adapted to cope with this.

We are fortunate that our Outdoor Pursuits teachers and tutors have accreditation in different pursuits, including kayak and mountainbike, to name a few. Keeping up to date with professional learning in specific pursuits certainly helps support health and safety, and ensures that we can offer a really great experience for our young people.

Toitū te whenua, toitū te tangata

The land is strong, the people are fulfilled.

Ngā mihi,

Nicola Jacobsen