KOA Outdoor Academy

The KOA Outdoor Academy is a private one-day school that complements your child’s regular education with rich, deeply engaging learning in nature. By mastering practical skills like water safety, navigation, and bushcraft across Hawke’s Bay’s coastal, river, forest, and mountain environments, we use outdoor adventure as a vehicle for personal growth. Watch your child build crucial life strengths—including resilience, teamwork, clear communication, and self-reliance—as they actively interact with nature through sensory experiences that foster creativity and confidence.

Who Is This Programme For?

This programme is open to both homeschooled tamariki and tamariki enrolled in a public school through Section 52 release. It is ideal for kids aged 7 to 13 who thrive in active, real-world learning environments.

The KOA Outdoor Academy is perfect for curious explorers who love the outdoors, energetic doers who learn best by moving and experimenting, and young adventurers looking to build confidence away from screen time. Whether your child is already a confident outdoor enthusiast eager to learn advanced skills, or a quieter student looking to step out of their comfort zone, overcome self-doubt, and find their voice in a small, supportive team—this programme provides the safe space, encouragement, and mentorship they need to shine.

Key Programme Details

  • When: Tuesdays, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Term 4, 9-Week Programme)
  • Ages: 7 – 13 years
  • Location: Drop-off and pick-up from Havelock North, heading out daily to our adventure locations across Hawke’s Bay.
  • Format: Full drop-off programme. Enrolment is for the full 9-week term to build consistent skills, safety, and team cohesion.
  • Group Size: Strictly limited to 10 spots to maintain our high safety standards and personal mentorship.
  • Weather Policy: We run rain or shine! Being outdoors in varied weather builds true resilience. Sessions are only cancelled or rescheduled if severe weather warnings or hazardous conditions are forecast.
  • Investment: $89 per day - 5% sibling discount

Action-Packed Real-World Activities

Every week brings a new outdoor adventure designed to challenge, inspire, and educate. Below are examples what each term could include. Parents will be notified the week of the programme with the daily plan in accordance with the weather.

  • Ocean Safety & Surfing: Reading ocean currents, rip awareness, body surfing, and surf coaching at Waimārama or Ocean Beach.
  • River Safety & Freshwater Fishing: Moving-water hydrology, river crossing techniques, swimming, and fishing (for licence holders) on the Ngaruroro and Tukituki rivers.
  • Marine Biology & Snorkelling: Exploring intertidal rock pools, learning about marine reserve and guided reef snorkelling at Te Angiangi Marine Reserve.
  • Traditional & Modern Eeling (Tuna): Understanding the cultural significance of Tuna as a taonga species, using Hīnaki (eel traps), and conducting hookless catch-and-release field studies.
  • Hiking & Bushcraft Mastery: Hiking & bushcraft along with and plant & animal identification at Blowhard Bush, knot-tying and emergency bivi/shelter building at Mohi Bush Scenic Reserve.
  • Coastal Ecosystem Hikes: Exploring ancient Kahikatea podocarp forests at White Pine Bush down to the lagoon and estuary systems at Waipatiki Beach.
  • Navigation & Geology: Topographic map reading, compass bearings, and geological history on the iconic ridges of Te Mata Peak.
  • Survival & Team Challenges: Emergency skills, knife skills & fire skills at the Tukituki Riverbed.
  • Ranges Hiking: Hiking & Bushcraft activities in the Kaweka Forest Park and the Twin Lakes.

School Attendance & Permission: How It Works

Under Section 52 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (Release from tuition for outside tuition), school principals have the discretion to release enrolled students from standard school attendance to participate in approved external educational programmes.

Seeking Approval from Your School:

  1. Discuss with Your School Principal: Reach out to your child's classroom teacher or principal to share your intention for them to attend the KOA Outdoor Academy one day a week (Tuesdays in Term 4).
  2. Formal Written Request: Submit a written request asking for release from tuition under Section 52 for external outdoor education. (We can provide a pre-written letter template for parents to make this process seamless).
  3. Curriculum Integration: Because our curriculum explicitly maps to the core capabilities of Te Mātaiaho, most schools will view this programme as a valuable extension of the student’s overall educational pathway.

Uncompromising Safety & Instructor Ratios

Safety is the foundation of everything we do. Our programme is led by two experienced instructors, allowing us to provide high-level instruction, personal mentorship, and rigorous supervision tailored to each environment.

To ensure maximum safety during high-element experiences, we maintain a strict 1:5 instructor-to-student ratio for all water activities (including surfing, snorkelling and river crossings). This low-ratio model guarantees that every participant is closely monitored, supported, and coached within their individual comfort zone, whether they are navigating river currents or catching waves.

Alignment with the Draft NZ Curriculum (2027 Capabilities)

Outdoor education is far more than physical adventure—it is a powerful medium for personal, social, and academic growth. The KOA Outdoor Academy directly integrates the 5 core capabilities from the draft New Zealand Curriculum:

  • Self-Management & Self-Regulation: Students set daily personal goals and review them during debriefs, manage their behavior and regulate anxiety in dynamic environments (like surf or river currents), independently organize personal gear, and adapt safety strategies for personal success.
  • Problem Solving: Participants actively identify real-world hazards, link environmental causes with consequences (such as river hydraulics or changing weather), evaluate route safety, and test practical solutions during emergency scenarios and off-track navigation.
  • Relating to Others: Students work productively together on teamwork tasks, act with personal integrity and safety responsibility, respect peer perspectives during team challenges, and demonstrate cultural responsiveness through Te Ao Māori practices, tikanga, and kaitiakitanga.
  • Communication: Learners practice active listening during site briefings, adapt their communication using clear whistle/radio signals and hazard callouts in outdoor contexts, and safely utilize navigation tools and digital tide/weather forecasting to inform group decisions.
  • Creativity: Participants foster intellectual curiosity and imagination through unstructured free play in nature—exploring coastal and bush ecosystems, building natural creations, and viewing challenges from multiple perspectives.