Outdoor Education at Kanata Montessori
If you pass by the Kanata Montessori campus, our commitment to Outdoor Education is clear. You cannot miss our authentic 25-foot high Tipi that serves as the base camp for our unique inhouse Forest School program. Regular outdoor guided play in nature is part of the regular curriculum we provide for all our Junior Elementary and Senior Elementary students. In the adjacent forest classroom, you might see enthusiastic senior elementary teams navigating with maps to find secret buried treasure. Across the street, our Junior High students could be investigating the various plant species that are part of the Canadian Wildlife Federation wild landscaping initiative in support of the region's bio regions. Look a little further into the woods and you will see evidence of beautiful survival lean-to's built by the High School Outdoor Ed students as part of their outdoor Skills unit. Even our extracurricular teams have the opportunity for outdoor adventure, every fall and spring after school mountain bike club begins on the Trans Canada trail behind our school, where students bike a short ten minutes along this dedicated bike path to the trailhead access for 50 km of mixed singletrack and double track trails located in "our" nearby nature area Stony Swamp. This amazing protected park is the most ecologically diverse area in the Ottawa Valley. The swamp’s bedrock dates back to Precambrian times, the earliest geological era. In fact Stony Swamp is classified as a provincially significant wetland and an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI).
Activities from sit spots to forest tag, nature art to plant identification, alpine ski club day trips to wilderness canoe expeditions, alpine hiking, to multi-day sea kayaking, whitewater rafting to cross country skiing, from sleeping in cabins to winter camping in quinze's, Outdoor Education is a signature experience of Kanata Montessori. Its roots took shape early in the school's history and are deeply ingrained into the fabric of life at our school. Outdoor Education is essential to our mission of developing well-rounded students who demonstrate compassion for nature, resilience, leadership, critical thinking, healthy active movement, and character. It also provides reflective space, mindfulness, and provides individuals with the opportunity to engage in challenges by choice which creates a mindset for risk assessment that is authentic and enhances healthy decision making in real life.
Forest School
Junior Elementary
Grades 1 - 3
Senior Elementary
Grades 4 - 6
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Junior High Outdoor Education
Junior High
Grades 7,8,9
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Senior High Outdoor Education
Grades 10
Course Code: PAD2O
Grade 11
Course Code:
PAD3O
Grade 12
Course Codes:
PAD4O or
PLF4M
In Grades 10 through 12 Outdoor Ed is an optional course that students must choose to take. As well the course is no longer integrated into the regular academic schedule as the focus of the course is torip based in order to have students engage in longer more engaging experiences. The students participate in three multi day excursions ranging from three to seven days in length. There is a fall trip in late October to early November, a Winter Trip in February, and a Spring Trip in early June. These trips are not optional as the trips comprise the bulk of the required 110 hours of academic credit hours. In addition students are required to participate in a 50 minute lunch hour session one day a week. The day of this lunch and learn session is determined collaboratively with the Senior Outdoor Ed students.
During these lunch and learn 50 minute sessions we cover gear, self care on trips, risk and behaviour expectations on trip, clothing and dress for trips, we also plan the trips, do the meal plans etc. Before the trips students also have to come to after school trip prep usually from 3:30 to 6:30 pm the two consecutive school evenings before the trip. Those are for packing and prepping gear, grocery shopping, and making sure everyones personal gear is thoroughly inspected for suitability for the activity.
There is also extra fees charged for Outdoor Ed. The school heavily subsidizes the cost of trips but students still need to contribute. This works out to between $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 each year, or approximately $350.00 to $500.00 for each trip. The fees are collected before we embark on the trips and vary according to accommodation and equipment needs as well as distances travelled to trip locations. This fee also does not include the purchase of individual gear like sleeping bags, proper clothing, sleeping pads etc. The school provides excellent group gear : tents, high quality lightweight backpacking tarps, cooking equipment, water filters, dry bags for gear, saws axes, back packing stoves, and if we need specialized equipment like canoes, cross country skiis, sea kayaks etc we rent that. Last but not least trips are not optional missing one trip would mean students do not meet the required 110 course hours mandated by the Ministry.