The stories that the participants in your programme share during this week will be the most important element of the postcard campaign. Somehow in a short space of perhaps 50 words the participants need to explain what they learned about their own self, others in their group or the place in which they have been learning.

There are a number of sample comment included below to give you and your students some ideas about what might make a good postcard comment. Please note the spelling and grammar are the work of the students and we feel it is important to leave their comments as they have been written.

Primary School postcard comments.

This Outdoor Ed trip was fun i really wish that i could do it again some time but i enjoyed my say and when i was here i felt i could express myself more and i got to know alot more people and made heaps more friends.

I enjoyed Outdoor Ed camp it was scary, FUN, and i taught me how to be a better team member.

This Outdoor Education camp was really fun its has brought everyone together in so many differnt ways. our class knows each other more now!! Thank you for letting us stay

This has been my third Outdoor Education experience and probably the one I have enjoyed most. It has helped me to learn more about others and boost my confidence.

High School Postcard Comments

We were hiking to our camp site on Wednesday arvo, and we went down a hill to cross a dry creek, but found since the rain the creek was full of water. We all combinded with ideas, to throw logs form one side to the other. I got into the water (which was feral) and with everyone else, we got all our packs across, and everyone else, and nothing got wet, besides me. It was a moment where our little arguments and what not stopped and we all threw ideas in to solve this problem.

A time when the team worked well together was when a member had an asthma attack and couldn't carry her pack anymore, so a couple of blokes took her pack off her and carried it for her and the rest of the team was very supportive of the girl and everyone else. We all worked together to push through.

I am the school captain of Anonymous State High, and this week has been an ultimate turning point for me. The lesson i learnt is courage, it takes courage to stand up and lead, but it also takes courage to sit down and listen. This has giving me a understanding that leadership, isn't all about doing, its bout listening to everyone else

If you want to be a leader you need to able to get people around you to listen to you and be able to make decisions based on what the majority of the group thinks even if there is a few people who disagree you have to be able to go ahead. You also have to be able to take critiscism on board about your leadership and also be able to control a group and make sure everyone gets a say in whats happening.

I've learnt to appreciate the outdoors more. There are alot of stories that we were told about the mountains and the earth, and how long they have been there for, made me think about how long ago people were around, and whether the mountains started as small rocks, and grew into mountains, or if they've always been massive mountains.

Our teacher taught us about making decisons, for instance, we were canoeing and had head wind which made it real tough, he grouped us together and said, we are making it unsafe, and need to keep close to each other and help the slower,less powerful poeple. He sat back and let us work it out. He pushed us, and for that im thankful because yes i hated every moment of the difficult bits, but now to say that we have achomplished that is awesome!

Outdoor Education camp was amazingly awesome. Considering i've spent most of my life in well populated areas, it was different to come out here and check out the nature and wildlife. The experience itself was great, and doing thing I never thought I could do was the most satsfying of all.

The trek was the most physically challenging thing I have ever done. I have pushed myself that much before, but never for that period of time (and as I found out, 3 days is a long time!!) - but I did it, and I am so proud! It feels so great to have finished. I reached my goal and that is just the best feeling! Thank you!

It was a good experience, learning different things that we couldnt learn in our hometown. Working with other people that we dont normaly talk to at school made us come together and actually take notice of eachother which made us make new friends. It was a good Outdoor Education camp and gave us more knowledge about ourselves and others.

I found this Outdoor Education trip to be the best camp i have ever participated in, I have seen things that i would never have dreamt of seeing, been places that i didnt even know of, I have picked up alot of strengths and skills during this camp, i found hiking to be the most enjoyable of it all, listening to others complain due to the pain they were feeling or the heat or even the camp out in general only made me think of how much i appreciate my life, my home and the school i attend, it made me realise how lucky i am to live the way i do, completing this task made me feel like i could acheive anything, It was amazing. Our group’s teacher helped us through everything, she helped us understand how small things that we do may have a large impact upon the environment around us. It was awesome.

This Outdoor Education experience provided the group with an amazing opportunity to build trust and work together during stressful situations. I am very fortunate that my group were able to bond so easily. Although at times things seemed almost impossible to do, with the help from the Outdoor Ed teachers, as well as our school teachers, we managed to successfully complete all the tasks. It was a very rewarding experience and I would definitely do it again!

I thought this Outdoor Ed camp was really good. I enjoyed all of the activities and i learnt alot about leadership as well as some outdoor skills. I think some of the skills i have from this Outdoor Ed camp, i will use for a long time afterwards.

These comments are attached in a pdf document if you would like to use them to help your students create their own stories.