Year 5 Getting used to the natural world

Year 5
Getting used to the natural world
- a two island adventure.
Outdoor Education Camp
Wong Yi Chau and Sharp Island
Shelter Bay
Sai Kung
New Territories
Hong Kong
Year 5 Camp Overview
Progressive Development – A core value at OEDAsia.
We design and provide programs for schools to satisfy the progressive learning requirements of the students
as they gain more experience and capabilities. A location is selected for its suitability to provide learning
experiences to specific year groups depending on group sizes and group capabilities.
Year 5 - Getting used to the natural world - a two island exploration.
Times have changed. Children are no longer exposed to the natural world in ways they were 20 years ago,
especially in cosmopolitan cities. Experiential education is 'hands on' so the activities will have the students
completely immersed in nature.
Exploring two Hong Kong islands is an adventure and nature based camp of 4 days 3 nights.
2 nights are accommodated and 1 night is under canvas (large multi share tents). Our main base (where we
eat and sleep every night) is Wong Yi Chau, a small island in the protected Shelter Bay area of Sai Kung. We
also visit Sharp Island, the biggest of the 8 islands that make up the Kiu Tsui Chau Country Park.
Our day time activities are designed to engage the kids in a fun and encouraging way. We kayak, treasure
hunt, learn archery, study the mangroves, swim, learn rope skills, camp, learn some cooking skills, learn
some fire craft, map reading and how to use a compass.
On Sharp Island we play beach games, snorkel over coral reef, go coasteering and swimming.
Our night time programmes are designed to show how much wonder and activity really happens in the
natural world after dark. Some star gazing, camp fire stories, animal tracking and night exploration add to the
days adventures.
Getting used to the natural world also includes birds, bugs and beasties (marine too) in a fun and imaginative
way.
Wong Yi Chau (our base camp)
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
– Albert Einstein
Wong Yi
Chau
Sharp
Island
Our camp is based on a private island (Wong Yi Chau) in the
northern end of Shelter Bay, Sai Kung. We have the island to
ourselves. This creates a unique opportunity to provide a range
of activities in a completely safe and controlled environment.
Wong Yi Chau has many great features and facilities specifically
designed for outdoor learning.
 It is forested with open areas connected by concrete
walkways.
It is large enough to have many different group activities
occurring at the same time with no interference to each other,
yet small enough to communicate with all groups with ease.
It has a self contained camping area with showers and
toilets.
It has dorm accommodation, a large restaurant and kitchen,
football, basketball and other sports fields.
It is surrounded by crystal clear water, a mangrove system
and a great pier for swimming from.
It has an archery range, a low ropes course and a campfire area great for camp craft.
There is also separate teachers accommodation, meeting rooms and storage facilities.
 24 hour security and restricted access.
 Convenient ferry and speedboat service between the island and Sai Kung.
Sharp Island
Sharp Island (Kiu Tsui Chau) is a beautiful island only 1
klm away from the Sai Kung pier and just a 15 minute
boat ride from our base at Wong Yi Chau.
Sharp Island is part of the Hong Kong Geopark, one of
183 in the whole of China and the only one in Hong
Kong SAR. As such it is globally recognised as being
an important island in Hong Kong.
About 140 million years ago a series of violent volcanic
events occurred in Hong Kong. A volcano of over
20kms in diameter situated in what is now known as
Sai kung spewed vast amounts of pyroclastic ash and
lava. Eventually, the centre of the volcano collapsed,
forming a huge caldera which flooded in recent times.
Sharp Island was once at the edge of this large caldera
and as such is of immense scientific interest.
Because of its formation, the island is long and thin,
stretching over 2.5kms in length but only 500m wide.
Its highest point is 136m above sea level. It is a truly
beautiful island with warm water, white sand beaches,
vistas of small islands and coral reefs and lush green
woodlands.
The fringing coral reefs are easy to access from the
beach, as is the island Kui Tau connected to Sharp
Ilsland by a natural tombolo (see image above).
Adventurous Activities
This camp has 12 structured day time activities at
its core, each selected to compliment and grow
previously learned skills or introduce a new element
to the young person’s life.
We also add personal and group experiences that
are fun and educative to ensure the kids have such
a great time that they do not want the experience
to end and look forward to learning more at the
next one.
The architecture:
Comfortable camping, fun, challenging activities in
a clean, sustainability and beautiful island settings.
The 12 activities are (in no particular order of
importance):
1. Camping
2. Camp craft
3. Sea kayaking
4. Orienteering / Treasure Hunt
5. Hiking
6. Mangrove Exploration
7. Coasteering
8. Snorkeling
9. Beach activities
10. Archery
11. Ropes course
12. Swimming
Added to these are:
Camp cooking, star gazing, animal tracking, night
hikes and free time.
The school group is divided into 6 groups of up to 25
kids. Each group is divided again into 2 sub groups of
up to 12 students. Each sub group will have a lead
instructor and an assistant. The assistant will be an
OEDASIA staff member or a school teacher.
The groups will rotate through each activity which is
designed to take approximately 2 hours allowing time
for rest and play.
Camping and Camp Craft
The first time you camp can be a daunting
experience, especially for children that are used to
silence when they sleep.
Our camping experience for year 5’s is designed
to make sure they enjoy it, sleep comfortably and
are well prepared.
We DO NOT use expedition tents for many
reasons.
 They are cramped and hot.
 They only have room for 2 or 3 people which
makes the experience less social (kids want to
know they are with lots of people when they are
in a strange situation, especially at night).
 They can fit comfortable camp beds to make
sleeping a pleasure, especially prior to a day of
activity. For younger students we will use
inflatable mattresses, regarded as more fun by
the kids.
 You can walk around in them, making it easy to
get changed, pack and unpack a bag and have
some personal space.

There is no need to erect a tent in this year group.
Year 6 is when we teach about camp set up.
Camp craft for year 5 is learning about personal
hygiene, staying warm and comfortable, learning
how to create a fire, how to avoid listening to night
sounds too closely, how to share a small space
with a stranger and much more.
We use large dorm tents and camp beds to make camping
comfortable and enjoyable ensuring the kids will want to do it
again.
Basic Map Reading (Orienteering)
Basic map reading for young children.
Basic map reading for young children is about
going out and trying to match a map to what they
see around them. Knowing how to find their own
way using maps, whether printed or digital, is an
essential skill and they’ll have fun at same time.
They may even teach you a thing or two along the
way.
It doesn’t have to be a giant hike, just a short walk
will do to start with, so they can get used to the
map symbols, types of paths and physical features.
Following a route they’ve made themselves is a
great confidence booster because they can spot
landmarks along the way and get a sense of
achievement when they follow the route and return
safely to the car or home.
They take pictures along the way to remind
themselves of the journey they have taken. It may
be a shot of an unusual tree, plant, view or
something they found along the route.
We also record experiences, favourite places and
key decision points along the way.
Children find it fun to write down and record things
they see, how they were feeling and special points
along a route. We encourage this by getting them
to write things down in a notebook – often we find
that they see and experience things that we’ve
missed or feel are unimportant. It’s all about using
imagination and having something interesting to bring
back with them, so maybe they’ll want to do it again.
Finally we introduce contour lines so the kids know
how high they will be climbing. This is a great activity
for kids to learn the basics of map reading and
Treasure Hunt
What young child can resist the pull of an
outdoor adventure, and the promise of hidden
treasure?
We turn our island or location into a
far away land with secrets to unfold—by
setting the stage our student’s imagination
will do the rest.
Treasure hunt clues are more fun if they
require a bit of solving. Puns and rhymes add
to the fun.
And in between all that bounty-chasing,
treasure digging and problem solving they will
get a taste of how to use a map, and begin to
connect how images and symbols on a map
correspond to things in the physical world.
Sea Kayaking
Kayaking for the very young has to be staged.
There are many skills to learn to master kayaking
AND there are also some physical requirements as
well.
To ensure we make the experience easy and
enjoyable we use double sit on top kayaks to teach
the skills of kayaking, then take a journey to give
the students a reason to use them.
As with everything for the youngsters, it has to be
safe so we teach them how to capsize, what to do
when they are in the water and how to help rescue
their friends.
This activity teaches water confidence and
teamwork as a fun activity and a learning
experience.
Our kayak journey will take us eastwards along the
coast to our destination at Nam Fung Wan where
will have our lunch. We meet the hikers here too.
Hiking / HKEI Database
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
– Albert Einstein
Our short hike (about 3 k’s) contours the headland
following the coastline east. There are a few creek
crossings and forests to go through but generally
this hike is a great first time experience.
We will carry our day packs with lunch and drinks
to allow the students to get the feel of being
independent. As with all elements of the
programme, the hiking activity is designed to
provide time to interact with the natural world.
Today we add a special Hong Kong feature. During
the hike the students will be adding to the Hong
Kong Explorers Initiative (HKEI) database of plants,
insects, birds and animals. This National
Geographic sponsored initiative is designed to
engage the locals of Hong Kong with their own
natural environment.
At the end of the hike we meet our fellow students
for lunch. They have just sea kayaked the coastline
to join us.
Snorkeling
Snorkeling is a wonderful new experience for most
8 to 12 year olds. Our Sharp Island coral reefs are
perfect to learn how to snorkel and get a good look
at coral reefs and the fish life they support.
With access from the beach we first learn the
basics. How to wear the mask, how to clean the
mask and how to put the snorkel in the mouth.
Then we simply progress through the stages of
putting our head underwater and breathing through
the snorkel.
Once mastered, snorkeling opens up the world of
the coral reef. All our younger kids wear buoyancy
vests so that they do not have any issues with
learning how to snorkel.
This is regarded as one of the best activities they
do. Great fun and a great learning experience.
Coasteering
Coasteering is a fabulous way for students to
understand what happens in the inter tidal zone.
Coasteering is a fantastic adventure sport and our
course at Sharp Island is a great introduction for
the young beginner. Firstly we dress for the
occasion! our wetsuits, buoyancy vests, helmets
and gloves. These are not to protect us from cold
but to help us with easy navigating through rocks
and shorelines full of barnacles and other marine
life.
Our journey around the coast takes us up and
down rocks, in and out of the water and jumping
into the sea from various heights.
Along the way we inspect rock pools and other
places teaming with marine life in this wonderful
new environment.
The week’s schedule
Daily Schedule
Everyday the programme starts at 7:00am with a wake up call. This gives the students 30 minutes to wake
and get dressed.
7:30 am is the official start of the day when breakfast is served in the camp restaurant. The students have to
clean their tables after every meal. This does not include the campers who will be preparing their own
breakfasts in camp.
9:00 am is the beginning of the activities. All camp chores have to be completed by 8:30am in order to
prepare for the day’s activities.
12:30 is lunch. Lunch will either be prepared and taken with the student to Sharp Island or at the camp
restaurant.
15:30 will be the end of the afternoon activity with free time until 17:30 with time to get ready for dinner.
18:00 to 19:00 dinner and cleanup.
19:30 to 20:30 evening activity
21:00 lights out.
Day 1 morning: Allowance has been made for the group to travel from the school to Wong Yi Chau, via Sai
Kung.
Day 5 afternoon: Allowance has been made for the group to travel from Wong Yi Chau, via Sai Kung back to
the school.
Please note: this is a preliminary schedule open for discussion.
Booking terms and conditions (formalities):
Payment system
Once the programme design has been finalised, a contract will be required to be signed
together with a 20% deposit to secure the dates. 60% of the final price will be required 30
days prior to the programme commencement date. The final 20% is required 7 days prior to
the programme commencement date.
Further planning & programme development:
Following a site inspection, scheduling and content will be finalised. Upon completion of the
programme design, risk management documentation, packing lists and any other
documentation will be finalised and sent to the school.
OEDAsia Ltd will provide a contract to be signed with a deposit to secure the agreed
services.
The contract will outline additional payment and service terms and conditions.
Dave Wilson
Executive DIRECTOR
OEDAsia Ltd
ph 54105015
dave@oedasia.com
OUTDOOR EDUCATION ASIA
4 KEI LING HA SAN WAI
NEW TERRITORIES
HONG KONG
WWW.OUTDOOREDUCATIONASIA.COM
ph: +852 3482 3912
info@oedasia.com