A Day of Snorkelling At Rottnest

November 12, 2020

The Year 9 Recreational Studies course introduces students to Outdoor Education. Students participate in a variety of activities. One of these is snorkelling.

The five classes travelled to Rottnest Island recently to put into practice everything they had learnt in the snorkelling unit.

A group of 97 students attended with 8 staff members. This excursion is an important component of the Recreational Studies Snorkelling Unit and the students are assessed on their knowledge and understanding of the following:

Snorkelling practical skills
Snorkelling safety and survival skills
Trip planning
Risk assessment and risk management
Conservation and environmental awareness
Knowledge and awareness of the flora and fauna found on Rottnest Island

The girls have been working hard developing their practical snorkelling skills in class time and will also complete an assignment directly related to their experiences at Rottnest Island.

Students were split into eight small groups. Each group visited three bays and between them visited:

Salmon Bay
Little Salmon Bay
Parker Point
Parakeet Bay
Little Parakeet Bay
Fays Bay
The Basin

Student Reflections

Mischa Covich

The highlight of my trip to Rottnest was riding around the island and visiting Parakeet Bay. The scenery was beautiful, and the water was super clear.”

Ingrid Barfield

I found the small waves kept allowing water to enter my snorkel, therefore each breath I took was allowing water to enter my mouth, as this resulted in having to clear my snorkel to be able to breathe again. This was quite challenging. I had to overcome this challenge by using my initiative and making sure my snorkel was in the correct position and higher so less water would fill the snorkel and making sure I cleared the snorkel correctly. I found the most enjoyable part of the excursion was snorkelling at Parakeet Bay with my buddy Alana and looking for aquatic life to take photos or videos of. This was quite fun as we saw a variety of different schools of fish.

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Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.