Our Outdoor Classrooms

Our Outdoor and Environmental Education programme focuses on connections, conservation, culture, history and creativity.

Our girls are able to appreciate experiences in nature and their local environments, and build enduring relationships with their peers. All programmes link with Indigenous histories of place, build solid outdoor camping skills and advocate sustainable living practices. The Years 9-12 students are able to participate in our Outdoor and Environmental Education Extension Programme, allowing them to explore some of the State’s most remarkable natural environments including Shark Bay, the Kimberley, Nullagine, Kalbarri, Mount Gibson and Wooleen Station.

Our Wooleen Classroom

Place Based Education

At MLC, we believe in the value of place-based education. The Outdoor and Environmental Education Programme takes our Year 9 students to Wooleen Station on Wajarri country. The programme is an expedition bushwalk whereby students walk between campsites, carrying their essential items, sleeping under the stars, laughing around the fire, and connecting with the land and culture of this area.

Wooleen Station is located approximately 700km north of Perth in the Murchison Region. After years of over grazing the station is looking towards regenerative pastoralism to help improve and maintain the health of the land. Providing MLC students with the opportunity to experience and value the rich cultural and natural history of the area is part of it’s ongoing story.

We would like to acknowledge that the teaching and learning this programme offers is done on Wajarri country. Students will spend an afternoon with local Wajarri ladies who share stories of their life growing up on nearby stations. We are very grateful to be welcomed onto country by both the local Wajarri people and Wooleen Station owners Dave and Frances Pollock. We pay our respects to the traditional owners and recognise their ongoing connection to country and culture.

We hope that by spending time here students gain an understanding and an appreciation for place by creating and sharing positive outdoor experiences.

Outback Photography Workshop

The Outback Photography workshop encapsulates the essence of Outdoor and Environmental Education at MLC by allowing students to engage with nature in a fun, creative and positive way.

The programme is offered to students in Years 9 – 11 and takes place over the school holidays, touring across the Western Australian Outback. Stopping in at places of both cultural and natural importance such as the Australian Wildlife Conservancies Mt Gibson Sanctuary, Wooleen Station, Kalbarri National Park, and a farm stay in the States wheatbelt.

Students are encouraged to explore both the technical aspects of photography, such as the relationship between aperture, ISO and shutter speed as well as challenging notions of ‘photography’ through composite imagery in Photoshop. All the while being immersed in the expansive and mesmerising Australian bush.

We hope that this experience appeals to both the adventurous and creative. We are proud to offer such a unique and considered programme that helps redefine the word camp.

Our Kimberly Classroom

connections, conservation, culture and creativity

MLC students are able to connect with nature, express their creativity, learn about conservation and deepen their understanding of Indigenous culture and history through our unique Outdoor and Outdoor and Environmental Education experiences.

Our first Kimberley Wilderness Experience this year allowed Years 10–12 students to visit some of the most remote and pristine parts of the state. To begin the nine day experience, the group was hosted by one of our generous MLC boarding families who took the girls net fishing at their local wetland. The students then attended the Mowanjum festival in Derby, a celebration of local culture through song and dance.

The days that followed were spent at the Australian Wildlife Conservancies (AWC) Mornington Wilderness Camp and Charnley River Station where the students paddled down the mighty Martuwarra Fitzroy River and camped along the banks. They learnt about conservation practises in the local area from AWC ecologists, swam in tranquil waterholes and shared many laughs with their friends.

Outdoor Education Extension Programmes

Each of our distinctive Outdoor Education and Environmental Education extension experiences allow students to explore some of the State’s most remarkable natural environments, including Shark Bay, Nullagine, Kalbarri, Mount Gibson, Wooleen Station and the Kimberley. Tailored for the group and location, each experience focuses on connections, conservation, culture and creativity, and provides MLC students with unforgettable learnings and memories.