Getting out ‘n’ about is fun, good for us and good for our learning. Adventure Based English was a Level 1 English Course offered in 2022 that gave students the opportunity to participate in an outdoor adventure and then use that adventure in a real-life context to develop communication skills and a platform for reading, writing and speaking assessments.

We worked on developing the sort of skills you need in life beyond school. For example, writing letters and reports, discussing things in a group or presenting your views in an interview situation, also writing for a particular purpose and showing robust understanding of texts you read. In short, the adventures were a catalyst to explore a range of English skills for basic and practical communication.

The students were offered a choice of three adventures - a half-day hike to Kaiate Falls, an overnight tramp to Waitawheta Hut or a day bike ride on the Hauraki Rail Trail. In the end, we ran two trips to Kaiate Falls and one to Waitawheta Hut.

The learning from Kaiate Falls focused on local history and the poor water quality in the river. The students discovered how local iwi used the falls traditionally and what was currently contributing to the fact that swimming is banned at this site.

One student said …

I enjoyed this walk because it gave us the opportunity to get out of school and have a more up close and personal learning experience about the falls. Instead of just learning about the falls in a classroom we actually got to go on a trip to Kaiate falls and learn about all the history while also being able to see the history there. For example, we got to learn about the native tribe's escape plan for when they get attacked, instead of just talking about it inside the classroom and we got to stand on the land and see it for ourselves. I liked this better because it gave us the chance to get an up-close vision of what the land used to be like instead of being stuck in a classroom talking about history. Overall this made the learning more interesting and helped me to stay engaged. I think there should be more learning opportunities similar to this because it can help the people that learn in different ways. I know I feel I learned more this way than sitting in a classroom and had a more enjoyable experience in the long run. By having more classes where we can learn in this way I believe that it will benefit many other students and will give everyone a new life experience.

The learning from Waitawheta Valley focused on conservation efforts and pest control in the Kaimai Ranges and the history of kauri logging in the area. The weather was quite damp on day one, but we had the hut to ourselves and the students enjoyed cooking their own meals and playing games in the evening - many of them commented positively that there was no cell reception and they were not tempted to use their phones!

In the words of a couple of students …

On this trip I learnt all about the history in Waitawheta Valley and how all the tracks were made. I also learnt about the kauri trees and how they transported the kauri trees using tramways when they were logging. I learnt that the Kauri Dieback is a fungus-like bacteria that kills the kauri trees. The main thing I learnt was how to live life properly, enjoy and take in everything around me. Normally I’m glued to my phone all day and don’t experience much, so being in the bush with no power and service was amazing and something I will not forget. I loved this trip because I loved being in the middle of the forest with no service and power because this made me realise how amazing the wild actually is.

I believe that this trip to the Waitawheta Valley was an awesome experience. It made a cool thing to write about and was a great way to connect and get more comfortable with the teachers and class. We got to learn about different animals and the reason the tracks were built, we also learned about how our forests are getting destroyed by pests and how they are trying to prevent that.

Back in the classroom we wrote trip reports, discussed the learning, and read articles about the areas we had visited. We also read articles about the health benefits of nature and the wider benefits of adventure. Then we researched Helen Thayer and Ross Schnauer - two kiwi adventurers very few people have heard of, but who added another layer of inspiration to our adventure-based learning.