French Island outdoor experience – Year 12 Outdoor and Environmental Studies
I’ve been taking students over to French Island for more than a decade, usually as part of a sea kayaking journey from Hastings to French Island, then across to Balnarring. Due to a range of factors, I made a change to the trip this year. I’ve always wanted to explore more of French Island beyond what’s accessible from the Fairhaven campsite, and this year we were finally able to do that.
I had a group of 35 students and 5 staff travel across on the passenger ferry with bikes, while a support vehicle brought over additional bikes via the barge from Corinella. We camped at the French Island Eco Inn, where there’s a great setup for group tent camping.
This year, I took my Year 12 Outdoor and Environmental Studies classes out for three days to French Island on Bunurong Country. We camped, rode bikes, and connected with several local conservation groups.
French Island is accessible via the Stony Point train line and a short passenger ferry ride across Western Port Bay. Students were able to bring our mountain bike fleet, which made getting around the island easy. The island itself is twice the size of Phillip Island and two-thirds of it is protected as national park, making it an ideal spot for fieldwork and environmental learning.
We were lucky enough to have Parks Victoria meet with us on the island to run a session on joint land management with Traditional Owners. Students heard about current practices, challenges, and the importance of working together to care for Country.
We also spent time with passionate local residents from the Friends of French Island and the local Landcare group. They shared their ongoing efforts to remove rabbits, establish wildlife corridors, and the complexities around managing the island’s abundant koala population. Their local knowledge and commitment to conservation gave students a powerful, real-world perspective.
One day, we rode out to the historic chicory kiln and learning about the historic Salt Harvesting company, linking this experience to VCE key knowledge around historical relationships with the environment.
This outdoor experience was intentionally designed to give students rich examples of primary data for their logbooks, which they’ll use in future SACs and for exam preparation. The hands-on learning helped them make strong, practical connections to the key knowledge and skills in the study design.
To ensure we were well prepared for the trip, I also consulted with Snake Safety (snakesafety@icloud.com) as part of our risk management planning. Jarrod from Snake Safety delivered an online presentation to my students prior to departure.
French Island is a great option for experiential learning—it’s accessible, and the trip can be kept low cost by using public transport and walking once on the island.
Suppliers: French Island Eco Inn
Snake Safety: Western Port Ferries
