Camps, Trips & Tours
St John's Grammar
Camps, Trips & Tours
St John’s Grammar School provides students with a broad education that extends far beyond the classroom walls. Right through Junior, Middle and Senior School we offer a range of annual and biennial camps, retreats, trips and tours, enabling students to embrace other cultures, broaden their world view, explore their passions, develop new skills and cultivate a lifelong love of learning.
Camps & Retreats
From Belair to Ballarat and Mylor to the Murray River, our annual camps and retreats are much anticipated fixtures in the St John’s Grammar calendar, built into our learning programs from Year 3 to Year 12.
Year 3 Camp – Nunyara
- Year: 3
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 2 days
- Departs: Term 3
- Indicative Cost: Included in school fees
Year 3 students gain their first camp experience through a night at Nunyara Camp in Belair and a visit to Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary, run by Beyond Limits. Students rotate through four outdoor activities, including billy-cart racing, then stay in dormitory-style bunk rooms. The following day features a tour of Warrawong and engaging, animal-focused activities to conclude the experience.
Year 4 Camp – Mylor
- Year: 4
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 3 days
- Departs: Term 1
- Indicative Cost: Included in school fees
The Mylor Adventure Camp experience is a highlight for many Year 4 students as they take risks, push their personal limits and bond as a group. From archery and bouldering through to bridge-building, challenge courses and so much more, students participate in a range of activities to connect, explore and grow in a beautiful Adelaide Hills natural environment at Mylor.
Year 5 – Goldfields Educational Tour
- Year: 5
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 4 days
- Departs: Term 3
- Indicative Cost: $850
Our Year 5 camp takes the form of an immersive Goldfields Educational Tour to Ballarat, exploring the people and events that shaped Australia during the Goldrush. The program deepens students’ understanding of how this period helped form our democracy and contributed to different migration patterns. With a Humanities and Social Science focus, the trip also links literature with the Goldrush to enrich classroom learning.
Year 6 – Canberra Trip
- Year: 6
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 3 days
- Departs: Term 1 or 2
- Indicative Cost: $1450
Civics and Citizenship is a key part of the final Junior School year, featuring an engaging program culminating in a study tour to Canberra. Students explore Parliament’s role and citizens’ rights and responsibilities, while visiting national sites including the War Memorial, Museum of Democracy, National Archives, National Art Gallery, Cockington Green and Questacon, which inspires both creative and scientific thinking on our learners.
Year 7 Camp – Fleurieu Peninsula
- Year: 7
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 3 days
- Departs: Term 1
- Indicative Cost: Included in school fees
A sequential Outdoor Education program begins in Year 7 and sees our students test their physical limits with an engaging program. Teamwork, collaboration and ‘having a go’ are key drivers in this experience, as students take on physical challenges during this unique camp on the Fleurieu Peninsula at Hindmarsh Island and around. Students return from the experience connected and with a stronger bond as a cohort.
Year 8 Camp – Murray River
- Year: 8
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 4 days
- Departs: Term 1
- Indicative Cost: Included in school fees
A signature Year 8 experience is our expedition along the Murray River. Our students are presented with challenging, exciting and worthwhile outdoor learning experiences as they explore this unique natural environment in canoes. The expedition is a highlight of the year for many, and builds students’ stamina and mental fitness.
Year 9 Rite Journey Camp – Barossa Valley
- Year: 9
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 5 days
- Departs: Term 3
- Indicative Cost: Included in school fees
A signature component of the Year 9 Rite Journey program is the five-day Year 9 Camp in the Barossa Valley region, which pushes students out of their comfort zone. Conducted with the help of Wilderness Escape, students are challenged with abseiling and trekking through tough terrain, with the pinnacle of the trip being an overnight solo camping experience – known as ‘The Abyss’. Giving the time and space to experience solitude, the Year 9s are given pause to reflect upon their year and their individual progress.
Year 10 Camp – Aldinga
- Year: 10
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 3 days
- Departs: Term 1
- Indicative Cost: Included in school fees
The Year 10 Camp at Aldinga on the Fleurieu Peninsula coast fosters strong bonds between peers and supports our students’ transition into the Senior School. Students engage in a fantastic program of activities, teamwork and fun – all geared towards developing strong bonds as a cohort, connecting meaningfully with others and discovering personal strengths.
Year 11 Retreat – Fleurieu Peninsula
- Year: 11
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 2 days (no overnight stay)
- Departs: Term 1
- Indicative Cost: Included in school fees
Fostering collaboration and challenge, the Year 11 Retreat offers a rigorous program that develops resilience, strengthens bonds and provides students with opportunities to connect with their peers. Coupled with the opportunity to reflect on their school journey so far and plan for their final two years of schooling, this retreat is an invaluable experience. Day 1 at a local site; Day 2 at Port Noarlunga on the Fleurieu Peninsula (no overnight stay).
Year 12 Retreat – Nunyara
- Year: 12
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 3 days
- Departs: Term 1
- Indicative Cost: Included in school fees
The Year 12 Retreat at Nunyara in Belair gives staff and students an opportunity to plan for the year ahead, discuss best practices and approaches to study, and build connections and relationships. Highlights include the Op Shop Chic Dinner and Red Faces Talent Show, and an Induction and Parents Evening where students are presented with their Year 12 jumpers by their Heads of House.
Trips & Tours
St John’s Grammar Middle and Senior School students can apply to attend a, exciting range of cultural, musical, language and literary trips and tours, across Australia and beyond our shores to Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan.
Generations in Jazz
- Years: 7 to 12
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 3 days
- Departs: Term 2
- Indicative Cost: $800–950
Every autumn our Secondary Campus Big Band and Senior Vocal music students and teachers travel to Mt Gambier to compete in the famous Generations in Jazz music competition. Running since 1987, this unique three-day festival attracts more than 6000 students annually, celebrating and inspiring a love of jazz across generations. St John’s Grammar has a rich history of success at ‘GIJ’, singing and playing across multiple divisions.
Literature Tour to Melbourne
- Years: 7 to 12
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 4 days
- Departs: Term 2
- Indicative Cost: $1200
Across four days students and teachers explore the literary capital of Australia – Melbourne! From live performances and tours to galleries, street art and museums – and of course a visit to the State Library – students indulge their love of storytelling through drama, art and film, and consider the human experience in myriad ways. Students return home awed, inspired and well stocked-up with books!
Journey to Vietnam
- Years: 9 and 10
- Frequency: Biennial, even-numbered years
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Departs: Term 2
- Indicative Cost: $4000
Students volunteer in villages, visit care centres for disadvantaged children and tour historical regions across Vietnam, while staying in a mix of homestay, train and hotel accommodation. This itinerary takes students from one end of Vietnam to the other, while providing understanding of the social, historical, political and developmental issues of Vietnam and hands-on community service activities.
APY Lands Trip
- Year: 10
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 10 days
- Departs: Term 1
- Indicative Cost: $800
In partnership with the Pipalyatjara Anangu School in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, our students have the opportunity to build relationships with the local students and develop a stronger understanding of the cultural and social lives of the Pipalyatjara community. Students spend time in class as well as taking various excursions around the local area.
Indonesian Language & Cultural Trip
- Years: 10 and 11 (Year 9 subject to availability)
- Frequency: Biennial, odd-numbered years
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Departs: Term 3
- Indicative Cost: $4000
Students spend three days with our sister school in Indonesia, MAN Insan Cendekia, allowing them to experience all that Indonesian school life has to offer, before exploring the city of Makassar and the various tourist destinations along the way. The trip concludes in Bali where students partake in Batik and offering making lessons as well as fun and adventure at Waterbom Park.
Japanese Language & Cultural Trip
- Years: 10 and 11 (Year 9 subject to availability)
- Frequency: Biennial, odd-numbered years
- Duration: 2 weeks
- Departs: Term 3
- Indicative Cost: $4000
Students studying Japanese are eligible to attend the Japanese Language and Cultural Trip to advance their language learning. A week of homestay at our sister school in Japan, Yasufuruichi in Hiroshima, provides an immersive cultural experience, followed by sight-seeing across several destinations including Himeji, Kyoto, Nara, Mount Fuji and Tokyo.
Ski Trip to Falls Creek
- Years: 11 and 12 (Year 10 subject to availability)
- Frequency: Annual
- Duration: 5 days
- Departs: Term 2 school holidays
- Indicative Cost: $3500
As a special trip reserved for Senior School students, the Ski Trip sees students travel to Falls Creek in Victoria. The five-day trip offers skiing or snowboarding during the day and a range of group activities during the evenings. The Ski Trip is an opportunity for students to bond and take some time for fun amidst their studies.
