Experiential Education

Given our emphasis on experiential learning and our school motto “Experience Teaches”, students engage in a number of school trips while at York. During the years of growing independence, our Senior School students are encouraged to take on more and more challenges and opportunities beyond the classroom.
 
The Senior School structures its programs so that students must step beyond the four walls of the classroom, but it also gives the individual student a wide range of choice in shaping their out-of-the-classroom experiences. In this way, students not only discover what the world is all about but are able to find their unique place within it.


Outdoor Education & Field Trips

Outdoor education provides opportunities for hands-on, experiential, challenging and engaging learning.
 
At the beginning of each academic year, there is a key focus on building community and connections. Our whole Senior School division takes part in a multi-night overnight camp retreat during the first week of school at Camp Timberlane facilitated by ALIVE Outdoors. These fall camp retreats will establish community, set norms for socialization, and initiate positive energy to start the year. 
 
The outdoor environment is an extension of our classroom where students explore the natural world and our place in it. Through outdoor education, students gain a heightened awareness, appreciation and connection with the natural spaces we are part of.
 
Also, various curriculum-driven day and overnight field trips take place at different points throughout the school year. Our programs are designed to build community, enrich curricular content and help build interpersonal skills. The International Baccalaureate Learner Profile attributes of risk-taking, reflection, communication and balance are all enhanced and reinforced through our outdoor and experiential education programs.
Challenge Week
In early May, The York School runs a unique experiential programme called Challenge Week. Students from Grades 6-10 take part in week-long curriculum-driven excursions across Canada and North America. 
Challenge Week is intended to enhance students’ education and love of learning through a series of hands-on experiences that extend their learning beyond the classroom. Students are asked to extend themselves beyond their comfort zone to gain the skills and confidence to learn through experience. Challenge Week is one of the most important platforms in which the Learner Profile of the Middle Years Programme (MYP) is developed through experience. Becoming risk-takers, inquirers, communicators, and open-minded, caring citizens are concrete outcomes that support the International Baccalaureate philosophy. 
Challenge Week is a mandatory part of the Middle and Senior School curriculum. Grade-specific excursions are linked directly to a specific course or area of study. 
Grade 9 and 10 challenges have included:
 
  • Exploring the Canadian identity in such locations as:
    • Kelowna, BC
    • Drumheller and Banff, AB
    • La Malbaie, QB
    • St Andrews by the Sea, NB
    • St Johns, NFLD
  • Learning the art of cooking in Montreal
  • Performing with professional musicians in New Orleans
  • Hiking the Juan de Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island, BC
  • Painting in the wilderness of Killarney with a professional artist
  • Kayaking through the bayou in Louisiana to learn about the impacts of Climate Change
  • And more!

International Excursions

York School Students are given opportunities to enhance their learning through organized international trips that support a range of curricular and co-curricular goals. International opportunities at the Senior School level include music, art, Model UN, debating, athletic, language and global learning excursions to destinations that have included Austria, Bermuda, Bhutan, Cuba, England, India and several cities across North America.