History

In 2001, our staff identified the need to reconsider ways in which the College provides for Year 9 boys. As a result, a comprehensive research study was undertaken through Monash University to investigate ways in which we could establish an educational program grounded in direct experience.

An extended stay program is an off-campus residential program, which is incorporated into the school experience and conducted in a remote outdoor setting, extending from three weeks to 40 weeks (full academic year). Typically, these programs offer an integrated curriculum during the ‘middle years’ of secondary education and aim to develop personal and social skills beyond what is possible in the traditional mainstream school environment.

Currently there are a number of schools that conduct extended stay programs nationally. These include, but are not limited to: Geelong Grammar - Timbertop, Lauriston Girls - Howqua, The Scots College - Glengarry, The Alpine School – Department of Education Victoria, Ballarat and Clarendon College – Grassy Campus, Methodist Ladies’ College – Marshmead, Wesley College – Clunes, Trinity Grammar – Pine Bluff and St. Peters Lutheran College – Ironbark.

Our extended stay program takes into consideration Australian and International research in experiential education, curriculum, middle schooling and boys’ education; combined with the experience of educators at similar extended stay programs and the values and beliefs of educators at PAC. The overall result is a model that represents the critical features of an extended stay program, and best practice in Middle Years Education.

Prince Alfred College launched the Extended Stay Program at Innes National Park, on the Yorke Peninsula in 2007.

In 2008 the 'Wambana Campus' at Point Turton was opened as a dedicated facility for our Year 9 Extended Stay Program.