Arthur's Pass Outdoor Education Centre

30/07/2026

🎉 **We did it. Outdoor Education is back on the Ministry-led subject list at Years 12 and 13.**

This is an incredible win for Outdoor Education, for our sector, and for the rangatahi who thrive through learning that is active, practical, connected to place, and grounded in relationships with the outdoors and each other.

More than 53,000 people signed the petition. Hundreds made submissions. Teachers, students, whānau, school leaders, academics, outdoor organisations and supporters created videos, shared stories, contacted MPs, spoke to the media, attended the rally, joined live conversations and continued advocating for Outdoor Education.

You shared, and shared, and shared again.

We are incredibly proud of the way this sector came together. Thank you to everyone who stood alongside EONZ and helped demonstrate why Outdoor Education matters.

Outdoor Education is not simply an activity or a setting for learning. It is a subject with its own body of knowledge, learning pathways and contribution to the lives of young people across Aotearoa.

We are delighted that Outdoor Education will now be developed as a Ministry-led subject at Years 12 and 13. We look forward to working with the Ministry of Education and supporting the sector to engage with the curriculum development and consultation processes as they take place.

There is still a critical gap at Year 11.

Our focus will now be on developing an EONZ Year 11 Outdoor Education curriculum to ensure there is a clear pathway between Year 10 and the new Ministry-led subject at Years 12 and 13. We will also continue advocating for a Ministry-led Outdoor Education subject at Year 11.

For schools currently running Year 11 Outdoor Education programmes, our message is clear: **please keep delivering them.**

There is more work ahead, but today we can pause and celebrate what has been achieved.

Outdoor Education is back on the list, and this is an achievement the whole sector can be incredibly proud of. 🌿

17/06/2026

05/04/2026

APOEC had 45 people from the Moving Church of Christ International NZ staying this Friday through until Sunday. What a wonderful warm, connected, harmonious group. They culminated their stay this morning by running their Church Service in the next door Chapel at my suggestion. A special part of the service were a number of baptisms But first the baptism pool needed to be filled. Fortunately the Chapel is right beside Avalanche Creek. And just as fortunately I had lots of buckets. It was fun to join in on this task with such a joyful group. .

In parallel with all the outdoor activities on offer at the Centre - teamwork made the dream work!

04/04/2026

In early March a number of classes of tamariki from Grey Main School came to the Outdoor Education Centre for a week long Camp. I was very impressed with how much they all knew about kea, particularly about protecting them. So when the Kea whisperer, Laura from DOC offered naming rights to some of the schools I work with through the Centre, it was a no brainer to offer one of these to Grey Main. What follows is the name they picked and why, directly from the pages on the Kea Conservation Trust website. This young male kea was banded as a juvenile in Arthur's Pass village in March 2026. He flocked in to the village with another 25 or so young fledglings and juvenile kea - the first time so many kea have been seen in Arthur's Pass village since 2022.

The children of a near-local school in Greymouth (Grey Main School) had a vote and come up with the name 'Grey' for this kea. The name 'Mawhera' was a close second place (Mawhera is the Maori name for the Greymouth area).

The reason behind this name choice is that the tamariki (children) relate to Greymouth ("our place") and their school name is Grey Main. They felt that this included the Tasman Sea and the mountains around them (thus Mawhera being so close). Their school colours are red and blue, so blue for the sky the kea fly in and red is close to the orange under their wings.

So keep an eye out for a kea wearing a beautiful leg bracelet White FK on brown next time you visit us here at the Pass. It's Grey!!! Photo taken and generously shared by Tanith van Dyk.

24/03/2026

Some extremely exciting news - we have had a huge breeding season with kea in Arthur's Pass National Park and currently we have a band of approximately 30 kea juveniles located regularly around the Village area. On the weekend of March 14th as part of a group of the amazing locals who live here in the Pass and are focused on assisting kea and led by the vibrant and knowledgeable Laura Young from DOC Blenheim, a group of us aged between 5-61yrs of age helped catch, band and blood test these new upcoming rascals.

As part of this mahi naming rights were given out amongst us/participants. I'm proud to announce that one has been named after the The Outdoor Education Centre I manage and run. It has a band White ED on Green and is called AP Ed. So we'll have schools keeping an eye out for him when they visit - especially if they are doing our kea studies module. If sighted the schools can then enter their sighting in the Kea Conservation Trust website and it will be on record for perpetuity. All these logged sightings provide very useful data for kea protection ongoingly - and it's easy, fun and exciting to do.

08/12/2025

Kathmandu Coast to Coast racers : is your accommodation sorted?

Stay close to the action with our convenient accommodation in Arthur's Pass! Our location makes race weekend easy, relaxing, and unforgettable!

🚨 LAST CALL! We have very limited spots left for race weekend. Don't miss out on securing your home base right near the action.

Tap the link in our bio to book now before they sell out! ➡️