Outdoor Education

Outdoor Education has a whole different meaning in Botswana and we take full advantage of the natural environment available to us. 

We begin our Outdoor Education with the Standard 3’s who spend the night at school while participating in games designed to enhance problem solving. They also get to cook their own meal and share in the excitement of spending a fun-filled evening together. 

This is extended in Standard 4 with a two-day visit and overnight stay at a centre just outside Gaborone in a game reserve. The emphasis on this trip is to learn about the local environment and how to look after it, as well as, a night under the African skies. 

In Standard 5, the children have the opportunity to travel further afield for a longer stay and tend to concentrate on team-building and problem-solving exercises. They spend three nights at Camp Nelu just outside Brits in South Africa. This is the first trip where the children travel out of the country and where they have to become slightly more independent. 

The Standard 6 pupils once again return to the bush to study in more detail the differing ecosystems that Botswana has to offer. They go on a four night trip to a camp north of Francistown. They will also experience team building exercises and a defined leadership programme. 

The Standard 7 trip is a little different. It comes at the end of their time at Thornhill and usually takes the form of a trip to the Hekpoort Camp just outside Rustenberg in South African coast. This is a fun excursion to culminate the end of their primary education and, this sees the children go on day trips to the Valley of the Waves at Sun City, Golf Reef City, Sterkfontein Caves, a trip to Soweto to see the Hector Pieterson Museum and the War Museum to mention but a few. 

We see our Outdoor Education programme as a very important part of our curriculum. It helps teachers and classes to bond together and helps all see each other in a different light. We feel that every child should participate in the programme as we see them grow immensely on these trips. Schooling is about learning and developing memories for the children and Outdoor Educational trips play an integral part of this.