Beyond

Beyond

Beyond is an educational experience that encourages the development of children’s emotional and physical development through outdoor play, activities and exploration in a bushland environment. 

Lobethal Lutheran students are bussed off site, to a forest glen haven at Spring Head, South Australia, to engage in the innovative, rich outdoor learning program, ‘Beyond’,  intentionally planned to develop confidence and resilience. 

The philosophy of Beyond is to encourage and inspire individuals of any age through positive experiences and participation in engaging, motivating and achievable tasks and activities that foster independence, confidence, communication skills, and self-esteem. 

Learners take part in a range of learning opportunities throughout ‘Beyond’. The day begins with a summit fire, grounding learners with the environment. The learners then make plans for lunch, lighting fires, chopping and gathering wood and preparing a shared meal.

Learners access ‘Forest Skills Pods’ on a needs basis through out the day and term, developing important life skills including woodcraft, shelter, rope work and knot tying, fire, STEM-Agriculture and natural flora and fauna identification. 

They develop the ability to light a fire, build a shelter, cut wood and cook a meal both individually and as a team. The ‘risky’ experiences in the ‘Beyond’ program are fundamental to the ideals of presenting new challenges, which supports our learners to discover their potential. 

A strong relationship is forged with the environment as learners foster awareness of how to care for local fauna and flora. 

Students are given appropriately challenging and achievable tasks, linked to the Australian Curriculum, that build their confidence, skills and independence and are given time to thoroughly explore their thoughts, feelings and relationships. This time and reflective practise develops inter and intra-personal skills,  directly linked to improved wellbeing.

 A day at Beyond could include  bug hunting, mud play, shelter and den building, knot tying, frog classification and coal art, learning experiences carefully designed by our facilitators to support student agency but also cover key literacy, numeracy and STEM outcomes.

This modern innovation on forest schools supports our students to develop strong social skills, the ability to work effectively in groups, and have confidence in their own capabilities. These attributes are an effective foundation to consolidate learning in the classroom and raise academic achievement. 

The post ‘Beyond’ journalling is a rich, authentic literacy experience that demonstrates how engaged -and in love – our students are with ‘Beyond’. 

At the end of the day at ‘Beyond’ our learners are muddy. The bus ride back to school is excited, with learners regaling the new skill they have developed or new learning they have made.

Every child dreams of a day in the forest – at Lobethal Lutheran School our learners go ‘Beyond’ experimenting with hands-on activities.

In 2021 Lobethal Lutheran School was recognised as of the Educator magazines innovative schools of the year for our amazing Beyond program.