Grammar Gazette- Issue 2, 2017

/ 19

For thirty years, Marrapatta has been the home of outdoor education for Grammar girls, providing a vital and rich source of life-wide learning

The development of the Marrapatta Memorial Outdoor Education Centre to what it is today would not have been made possible without significant support from the Girls Grammar community. We acknowledge and thank: the innovative 1970s staff who advocated for greater outdoor and experiential learning opportunities for Grammar girls; the School’s visionary Board of Trustees and Senior Leadership Team; the Parents and Friends Association; the Fathers Group; the first Outdoor Education Directors, Tim and Sue Lanham (nee Gordon, Head Girl, 1978); and Marrapatta campus staff and Girls Grammar staff more broadly. I am also grateful for the spirit and energy of the several thousand Grammar girls who have each harnessed and embraced Marrapatta’s challenging yet formative learning environment throughout the past thirty years. From raft building, high ropes, camping and cooking out, canoeing, navigating, hiking and trail-riding journeys, outdoor education at Marrapatta has inspired in Grammar girls the confidence that they can perform and achieve as individuals and in teams, no matter what the challenge and sphere of activity.

In contrast to the early days, the property’s infrastructure now includes a commercial kitchen, student dormitories and a most wonderful recent addition, the Dorothy Hill Observatory. During thirty years of progress, the fundamentals of student learning experiences within an outdoor programme have, however, remained steadfast and are perhaps more important to adolescent development and educational outcomes today than at any time before. For students who are part of an ‘instant gratification’ age and exposed to vast quantities of global information including a plethora of ‘fake news’, outdoor education helps individuals develop. Marrapatta will continue to provide an enriching programme to encourage Grammar girls to connect and belong, develop an assured sense of self, and appreciate the natural world of which they are part.

SUMMER ISSUE / 2017