Stage 11 at Encounter Lutheran College, a learning space for our Middle & Senior School learners opened in January and has been given the name, the Wilderness Centre.

While this space has been designed for our learners in Years 7-9, it will also serve as a transition space from Junior to Middle School, meaning our current Year 5 students will be enjoying this space in the second half of this year.

The name is intentionally aspirational, as it seeks to be something far more than what it is currently in place. We have an opportunity to acknowledge God’s Creation, to inspire our students and to be an example to our community to allow this space to become a place surrounded by and amongst wilderness. A wilderness area is where flora and fauna are thriving and relatively undisturbed and that is what we desire for all that lies within view and reach of our Wilderness Centre.

Within this Centre is a dedicated hospitality space, science laboratory, visual arts studio and a digital technologies classroom. The design of the entire Centre enables teachers and students to have the flexibility to learn in discreet spaces, or flow from one area to another. Given this entire Centre is located in Wurar Ruwi (Block 69), the ability for learning to readily extend outdoors is also an exciting prospect.

In the future, our hope is for Wurar Ruwi to be a rich learning environment, a dynamic habitat, a space for play and exploration and a reminder of what is possible when we make our planet a priority. Our intention is for the Wilderness Centre to foster creativity, encourage contemporary teaching practices and for us to seek meaningful moments to step outdoors and enrich learning and wellbeing.

We also hope it will be a place where we can engage with the community and invite them into the Encounter Family. The Wilderness Centre and all of Wurar Ruwi is a gift to be shared and a living legacy for all of us to embrace.