The start of year Education Outside the Classroom event for Year 9s is an Adventure Based Learning(ABL) day at the Adventure Southland Ropes course at their North Road base in Lorneville. This day is a mixture of team building exercises, games and activities with a focus on building students’ self-confidence in a safe environment amongst peers. Specific activities include climbing and abseiling the climbing wall, engaging in the high ropes course and ultimate archery.

The day is not compulsory for Year 9 students to attend and school will be open as per usual for those students who opt not to go. We do encourage all our Year 9 students to attend and historically this has been a very popular day. Students will attend one of the days below assigned with their AT class. These dates are:

Departure: Students are to arrive at school by 8:45am on the day. Buses depart at 9:00am  Return: Students will arrive back at school around 3:00pm on the day

Transport: Students and staff will be transported to and from the venue by GoBus.                Venue: Adventure Southland Ropes Course, 810 North Road, Lorneville.  Ph 03 235 7191

Cancellation: Adventure Southland’s ropes course is an all-weather activity. It is important that the students are prepared for all weather conditions, Adventure Southland have a warm common room and hot drinks are provided. Only in extreme weather conditions will there be a cancellation. There are no cancellation dates.

Non-participants: Those students not taking part will be required to attend school and their classes as per normal.

Equipment Required

• Food for the day (bring plenty of food, including lunch. There is no opportunity to purchase food off-site)
• Full drink bottle of water
• Waterproof jacket
• Warm casual sports clothing
• Sneakers or closed in footwear (NO sandals, jandals or heels)
• No jewellery
• Long hair must be tied back
• Any personal medication
• Sunscreen and sun hat

Costs: $63 per student. Full payment due by Thursday 13 February 2025.

Please Note: School procedures is full payment must be received by the due date for your child to be eligible to attend the ABL Day. If the payment and permission form is not completed by the due date your child will be withdrawn from attending the ABL Day. Once payment has been made and the ABL Day has commenced there will be no refunds.  Please Note: All payments will be allocated to any unpaid fees and charges on your child’s account first.

This event contains risks, including falling, significant impact injuries, and other injuries. This will be managed through planning and communication, including use of personal protective equipment, instruction on safe techniques, and supporting students to take on challenges at their personal level. This event is jointly managed by Adventure Southland and school staff who will manage risk and hazards according to the school’s safety management plan. Adventure Southland instructors are qualified and trained in the activities they lead and they follow best practices for all activities, as well as adding a critical layer of risk management. While risks can be maintained to acceptable levels they cannot be totally eliminated.  Some risk is retained for its learning and experiential value. Adventure Southland have further information about hazard identification and risk management on their website here: https://www.adventuresouthland.co.nz/safety-and-hazard-management/

If you have any questions about this activity, including about the school’s safety management systems, please feel free to contact me. My email is [email protected]  if  you wish to come in to school to see our safety management systems or have any questions, feel free to contact me.

It is important for safety reasons that students follow instructions given to them by all staff and follow all appropriate school rules. Behaviour by students that is deemed dangerous and puts themselves and/or others at undue risk will result in parents/caregivers getting phoned and asked to collect their child from Adventure Southland.

This permission form is now closed.