A case of serious intent

By Kelly Yates
STUDENTS at a Clyde school have been hiking, pitching tents and learning practical survival skills during one of the school’s specialist subjects.
Year 7 and 8 students at Hillcrest Christian College spend an hour every week participating in the Survivor program, a team-building outdoor program.
The program, designed by the school, aims to build leadership skills and foster personal development.
Students learn to work in teams and solve problems linked to the theme of being a survivor.
Some of the skills the students have learnt include packing school bags with the necessary equipment for a hike down to the college’s 25-acre environment reserve and constructing shelters with a tarpaulin, rope and pegs.
The students also learn skills such as first-aid, cooking with open fires and building rope bridges.
Year 7 student Jessica Schoonderwaldt said she enjoyed the weekly survivor classes.
“I’d definitely know what to do if I were stranded in the wilderness,” she said.