Somerset has its foundation in Outdoor Education as early as 1976 when Arthur Crichton first organised trips to Fraser Island, as well as various other areas around the state. Arthur went on to purchase a sixty arce block of land on the Colo River front in 1979, as a jumping off point for canoeing trips and a destination for his Scout Group. He began work on a run down old orchard, covered in Blackberries and a couple of falling down houses, and the name on the title deeds for the property, Somerset.
Somerset continued to grow throughout the eighties, offering weekend programmes and school camps for many clients who are still with Somerset today. Somerset was able to grow its philosophy and operational practice along the way, in order to maintain itself in line with a changing industry and growing client expectations.
Somerset today is one of the largest Outdoor Education Centres of its kind in the country, providing Outdoor Learning opportunities to around 7,000 students a year. The centre now operates a central logistics base, and two separate outdoor campuses.
Both campuses make use of activities including some 'journey' components such as bush walking, canoeing, mountain bike riding and airbedding, as well as fixed activities spread throughout the entire area including rock climbing, abseiling, ropes courses, archery, initiative courses, orienteering and campcraft.
Staffing is a key aspect of Somerset operations, the organisation believes strongly in the support and development of its staff and highlighting all staff as the focal point in the sucess of programmes.
After many years of predominately casual staffing, with its many draw backs, both for the organisation and the individuals, Somerset made a commitment towards staffing its operations with a permanent team. Our staff now enjoy the benefits of year round employment, including paid holiday leave, sick leave etc, as well as accomodation and board onsite.
This permanent team also allows for each staff members' professional development during their time at Somerset, with many staff 'working their way up' and developing their own career within the industry. This permanent team also allows for a unique approach to risk management and systems development, allowing for a high level of staff knowledge of the local area, conditions and characteristics of our programmes, as well as the opportunity to work through ongoing issues as a group.
Into the future Somerset will continue to provide Outdoor Learning Programmes, continuing the development of excellence and working with all staff to ensure their professional development and well being.
For more information on employment at Somerset, please email
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