Coo-ee! Welcome to a uniquely Australian co-ed adventure for students at single-sex schools

Picture this. It’s 5.45am at Vision Valley, Pymble Ladies’ College’s outdoor education campus, situated on the fringe of the Berowra Valley National Park and Hawkesbury River wilderness in Sydney, Australia, just one hour’s drive from the Harbour Bridge and Opera. Dawn is breaking to an alarm clock of kookaburras, high up in the eucalyptus trees, heralding the new day at full volume.

Seventy Year 9 girls rise in Stringybark Lodge, lace up their runners (trainers), and hit the 3km cross-country course. They are joined by a similar number of Year 9 boys from a partnering boys’ school who are residing in the nearby Koala and Wallaby Lodges. Together they run, walk, talk, laugh, and reflect on the day before or the day ahead. Smaller ‘kin’ groups of boys and girls will be setting off on expedition (‘Birrong’) after breakfast, hiking through national parks and remote beaches, camping out, and cooking their own meals under the stars for a few nights. The rest will be staying onsite for nature-inspired lessons in outdoor classrooms or service activities (‘Dulumi’) followed by high ropes challenges, canoeing and archery tag, until it is their turn to go on ‘exped’. Everyone is ‘looking up’. No one is attached to a smartphone. Boys and girls are conversing and relating to one another. In Real Life. IKR?

Welcome to our Year 9 Residential Program, a four-week co-educational adventure of a lifetime for Pymble girls and boys from single-sex schools to connect – to themselves, to others, and to the natural world. A place where students kiss their parents (and phones!) goodbye for 28 days, and step outside their comfort zones to build mutually respectful relationships with their peers and discover they are far more resilient, independent and capable than they ever imagined.

“…we discovered that we really liked spending time outdoors and it really helps to strengthen our bonds and our connections with those around us.
It just kind of changes you.”

“Socialising every day without phones was something that I truly enjoyed.”

“It taught me resilience and it tested my ability to persevere at times, especially on hikes. It made me realise that I am a lot stronger than I think I am.”

Pymble Ladies’ College is a leading independent school for 2500 girls in Sydney, Australia. Renowned for educational innovation, academic rigour, and sporting excellence at elite and Olympic levels, our vision is to raise compassionate and influential global citizens who have the hearts and minds to make the world a better place.

In 2020, the College purchased the 100-acre Vision Valley site to provide the missing piece of our Watch Us Change the World strategy, which focuses on building four key intelligences: Academic, Digital, Social, and Emotional. Vision Valley has since become the centrepiece of our Outdoor Education Continuum designed to build the Emotional Intelligence of students from Kindergarten to Year 12 through a series of age-specific programs, including our flagship Year 9 Residential Program. This program has been successfully running in partnership with leading Australian boys’ schools since inception.

“Being away from home made me realise how much our parents do for us. When I said this to my mum, she told me I should hang out with boys more often. That’s what VV has allowed me to do. I’m now really close to some of the boys on the camp and have also made new friends at school who I would never have spoken to before.”

“I definitely feel more confident and am less likely to be upset by setbacks.”

“It was the greatest moment in my life so far. I learned so much and have made many new friends.”

But don’t just take our word for it. The College commissioned Western Sydney University to research the impact of the program. According to parents of our pioneering cohort (n = 44), the four-week digital detox had a positive impact on their child (97.4%).

Students on the program gained an increased appreciation and knowledge of the world (100%), a greater sense of self-reliance and independence (97.4%) and were more tolerant of other people’s opinions and choices (84.6%).

Crucially, the program helped develop respectful co-educational relationships (90.4%) and students’ ability to be comfortable learning with both boys and girls (100%).

At the end of each program, our ‘adventurers’ are honoured in a ceremony steeped in Australian First Nations culture and traditions and attended by their parents – the first time they have communicated with their child, outside of reciprocal letter writing, in four weeks. This never fails to be profoundly moving, providing a memorable ritual to mark each student’s growth and discovery before returning home to their family.

“To see your child return with this huge inside light on and just feel like he can achieve anything and do anything makes me feel very emotional.”

“In such a short time, his friendships deepened, he has become more confident in himself, and he has an even bigger appreciation for everything he has at home and for his family.”

“Our son has definitely made the journey from child to young adult and it is beautiful to see.”

In 2025, we are excited to open this program to international boys’ school partners. If you share our vision for building healthy relationships and emotionally intelligent young people in the great outdoors, just give us a coo-ee.

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