Petersburg Outdoor Education and Training Centre

Petersburg Outdoor Education Centre History and Development Petersburg House was the ancestral home of a branch of the Lynch family of Galway. The family were granted land around the shores of Lough Mask under a policy of ‘Surrender and Re-grant’ and the ‘Big House’ was built in 1715. One of the first Lynches to live on the estate was called Peter and he put his own stamp on the place by naming it Petersburg. There is no Russian connection! The entire estate was eventually acquired by the land commission and was divided up (or striped) and most of the estate was allocated to local farmers. The Big House, grounds (16 acres ) and Red Island (16 acres ) was signed over to Galway County Council, but without the resources or the flexibility to develop the estate it continued to deteriorate. In 1986 it was signed over to County Galway Vocational Education Committee (now Galway Roscommon Education and Training Board) for the princely sum of £1 with the stipulation that it was developed as a leisure amenity for the people of the community and Galway county. The decision to turn it into an outdoor education centre was an inspired one. Even if someone was setting out to choose a location for an outdoor centre they could hardly have chosen a better one. It is ideally located for land based and water based adventure activities as it is situated on the southern shore of Lough Mask with hills and forests all around it. The centre lies on the divide between sandstone/igneous uplands and limestone lowlands. Caving is one of the activities offered, and the area is also important for geology and geomorphology. The centre was developed in 3 phases. Phase one provided simple dormitory style accommodation, a kitchen and dining facilities. Phase two upgraded some of the accommodation, improved kitchen and dining facilities and provided a classroom and recreation room. All of the outhouses, barns and sheds were renovated in these two phases and are collectively called Petersburg centre. Phase three which was completed in 2000 has developed what was the ‘Big House’ into more up-market accommodation, a lecture room, recreation room, and separate dining and kitchen facilities. In a sense a second centre was created and both facilities can operate independently of each other with 36 accommodated in the House and 60 accommodated in the centre. Educational/Training aims of Petersburg The aim or the Mission of Programmes run at Petersburg is to: Introduce participants to a range of quality outdoor experiences which will in the future encourage participation in leisure activities that will enhance their lives and improve their understanding of the natural environment and the importance of conserving it for future generations. Aims: (1) That students gain a positive experience of various outdoor activities as enjoyable and potentially life long leisure activities. (2) To increase their appreciation of the environment and encourage positive environmental attitudes. (3) To develop self-confidence through participation in a range of positive experiences (4) To increase their life skills by under-going a residential experience. (5) To increase their skill levels in various outdoor activities. (6) To improve their employment prospects in the outdoor leisure industry. Profile of the learners: Petersburg experiences a huge variety of learners across all age groups and social backgrounds. The profile of students under-taking QQI awards will generally be: (a) Youth Reach trainees (b) Adventure Traineeship (Adventure Sports and Tour Guiding) (c) Arborist Apprenticeship (d) School students (e) Youth and scouting groups Facilities Accommodation • Capacity for 90 people in a mixture of dormitory style and smaller en-suite rooms • Kitchens X 2 • Dining rooms X • Sitting/common room X 2 • Computer room • Drying room • Equipment stores • Separate day block with changing and shower facilities • Camping areas X 3 • Car parking facilities Courses and Programmes Petersburg has over 30 years of experience developing many courses and programmes. People often associate outdoor activities with a certain age group but the reality is that programmes can be devised to suit most age groups and people ranging in age from senior citizens to 10 year olds have enjoyed their stay here. The following is a short account of the types of programmes already offered and the possibilities for new programmes. Adventure Activity programmes Choose from a range of twelve activities including kayaking, canoeing, hillwalking, windsurfing, orienteering, sailing, rock-climbing/abseiling, gorge walking, caving, obstacle course, and raft-building. Peak Experience Programme This takes the form of a journey in the outdoors completing tasks en route at appropriate points, such as building a raft to cross a section of the lake, or designing a rope bridge to cross a river. The emphasis is on team building, developing leadership skills and lateral thinking. Suitable for Transition Year students, employee groups or any group wishing to bond together using the outdoors as a medium. Turas Eachtra Amuigh Faoin Aer ( Expedition Programme) Turas Eachtra means adventurous journey in Irish and this is exactly what this involves. This journey comprises two phases crossing the lake using kayaks, Canadian canoes, sail boats or rowing boats (or a combination) depending on skill and ability of the group. The journey will continue over the hills with the group using maps and compass to navigate. The journey finishes on a `high` with a rock climbing session including an abseil! PHILOSOPHY OF OUTDOOR EDUCATION Outdoor Education has been functioning in Ireland for approximately 40 years. It is often associated solely with adventure sports but it is much broader than this. Outdoor Education involves a residential experience combined with participation in one of the following activities or combination of these. • Adventure Sports At Petersburg the following activities take place: Hillwalking, Rockclimbing/Abseiling, Orienteering, Obstacle Course, Petersburg Challenge, Canoeing, Kayaking, Caving, Windsurfing, Sailing, Gorgewalking and Raftbuilding. • Co-operative Games Task Setting including an Obstacle Course. • Specific programmes E.g. Peak or Expedition programmes. • Field Studies Geography, Local History, Biology, Geology and Ecology. • Rural Activities Farming, Organic Farming, Forestry and various Crafts. The Residential Experience Helps • Break down barriers. • Encourages co-operation between students because of the necessity to live together and complete duties assigned to them. • Pupils & teachers to see one another as individual and human. • Students to experience living away from home. Adventure Sports • These activities are unique in that virtually all are potentially life long activities in one form or another. • They allow the participant to confront fears or face challenges often resulting in the high of a peak experience as described by Abraham Maslow, (Ref: "Towards a Psychology of Being, 1962") Field Studies Petersburg offers one of the best locations for Field Studies in the whole of Ireland, whether you want to study geology, land-forms, soils, botany, archaeology or ecology because it can offer such contrasting locations. This location already attracts schools and universities from Britain and other countries including the USA. The landscape around the Centre can be used as a huge open-air classroom, a giant living audio-visual aid to help explain the complexities of different subject areas or an interdisciplinary approach proposed by Prager/Frank Mitchell. As most field workers realise it is very difficult to separate subject matter into discreet areas in the field.