Dear GLOC families, alumni, and students,
Thank you so much for your continued support over these past two challenging years. Though things are still not operating fully at the Outdoor Centre, I am very optimistic that things will look more normal next year.
I did want to share some exciting news. We have been approved to run three 5-day, day camp sessions in July. These sessions will be intended for primary students (students going into grades 1-3) and will be hosted at 3 different school sites (Polson Park, Southview, and Molly Brant) to help with drop off and pick up. The majority of activities will occur on the school playground or nearby greenspaces, or inside the school in the event of inclement weather. We will be accepting up to 30 students per session to meet public health requirements and to help ensure the safety of students and staff.
Although we had hoped earlier in the spring we could run more of our traditional programs at The Gould Lake Outdoor Centre, that is not yet possible. LDSB school sites are better equipped than the Outdoor Education Centre to meet current public health guidelines. We are taking our learning from travelling around schools this past school year to visit elementary students and we have created a 5-day program aimed at younger students. With safety guidelines requiring a swim test and the unpredictability of Lake Ontario we will not be running any traditional water-based activities for our Nature Day Camps. This will be a brand-new adventure for us and very different from typical GLOC summer programming, but we’re excited!
I recognize this may be disappointing for some of you who had hoped some of your intermediate and senior students may have been able to participate in one of our popular outdoor programs based at Gould Lake. We are happy we can provide some summer camps to younger students and if it goes well, we may expand our GLOC programming to younger students in the future.
As we embark on this new adventure, we will continue to explore possibilities of running a trip-based program in August for older students. As public health restrictions evolve, we will continue to work with KFL&A Public Health to look for opportunities to provide safe, fun outdoor learning experiences for students. This work will continue as our Nature Day Camps operate. If we are able to secure approval for a trip-based program for older students in August of 2021, sometime in July, we will start advertising and will notify those on our mail list directly. Please stay tuned for more information.
Registration for our Nature Day Camp will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, July 2, 2021. It will be first come, first served with a cap of 30 students per session. Cost for the 5-day camp is $150 per student.
The registration link is here: https://forms.office.com/r/f90YFFaDyH
Details on the Nature Day Camp
Please note the schedules below are sample activities. Activities may change depending on weather or other factors.
Day 1: Animal Day
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Time
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Day 1: Animal Adventure
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9:00 - 9:30
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Get to know you games
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9:30 - 10:30
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Types of Animals
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10:30 -10:50
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Snack Break
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10:50 – 12:00
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Animal Habitats and Habitat Assessment
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12:00 – 12:30
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Lunch
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12:30 – 1:00
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Big Group Game
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1:00 – 2:00
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Show and Tell
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2:00 – 2:15
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Snack Break
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2:15 – 3:45
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Survival/Endangered Species
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3:45 - 4:00
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Break and Pick Up
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Day 2: Plant Day
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Time
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Day 2: Plant Party
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9:00 - 9:30
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Morning Warm Up/Games
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9:30 - 10:30
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Parts of the Plant
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10:30 -10:50
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Snack Break
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10:50 – 12:00
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What Plants Need – Scavenger Hunt
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12:00 – 12:30
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Lunch
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12:30 – 1:00
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Big Group Game
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1:00 – 2:00
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See the seeds
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2:00 – 2:15
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Snack Break
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2:15 – 3:45
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Hike/Bingo/Plant Art
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3:45 - 4:00
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Break and Pick Up
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Day 3: Rock n’ Soil
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Time
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Day 3: Rock n’ Soil!
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9:00 - 9:30
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Morning Warm Up/Games
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9:30 - 10:30
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What’s in Soil?
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10:30 -10:50
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Snack Break
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10:50 – 12:00
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Soil Experiment
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12:00 – 12:30
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Lunch
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12:30 – 1:00
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Big Group Game
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1:00 – 2:00
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School of Rock!
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2:00 – 2:15
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Snack Break
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2:15 – 3:45
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Profile in a Jar (Scavenger Hunt)
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3:45 - 4:00
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Break and Pick Up
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Day 4: Weather Day
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Time
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Day 4: Weather or Not Here we Come
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9:00 - 9:30
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Morning Warm Up/Games
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9:30 - 10:30
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What is Weather?
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10:30 -10:50
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Snack Break
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10:50 – 12:00
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Temperature and Air Pressure
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12:00 – 12:30
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Lunch
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12:30 – 1:00
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Big Group Game
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1:00 – 2:00
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Wind and Humidity
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2:00 – 2:15
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Snack Break
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2:15 – 3:45
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Weather Station Creation
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3:45 - 4:00
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Break and Pick Up
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Day 5: Water
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Time
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Day 5: Water World
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9:00 - 9:30
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Morning Warm Up/Games
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9:30 - 10:30
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A world of Water
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10:30 -10:50
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Snack Break
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10:50 – 12:00
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Water Cycle
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12:00 – 12:30
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Lunch
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12:30 – 1:00
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Big Group Game
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1:00 – 2:00
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Water Pressure/Power
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2:00 – 2:15
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Snack Break
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2:15 – 3:45
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Water Wars!
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3:45 - 4:00
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Break and Pick Up
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