Orienteering Australia is currently:

• Building coaching capacity Australia wide as well as professional development (PD) training through the Orienteering Learning Centre.
• Offering coaching curricula and lesson plan resources with Primary and Secondary School Delivery Guides.
• Providing mappers to develop a school orienteering map or update an existing map.

The Orienteering in Secondary Schools Programgives students in Years 7-8 provides the opportunity to sample a fun, safe and inclusive, modified Orienteering program in their school environment.

This is a targeted Program for secondary schools that provides access to tailored resources and support for students in Years 7 and 8, particularly girls, to address the barriers that prevent teenagers from participating in sport. As a Sporting Schools (Secondary) offering, there are three key goals for the Orienteering in Secondary Schools Program:

1. To help tackle the decline in sports participation that occurs during adolescence. We plan to do this by targeting secondary students aged 12-14, particularly girls, to encourage long-lasting relationships with Orienteering as either a recreational or competitive sporting activity.
2. Increase physical activity in areas with large cohorts of inactive students. National data tells us that only one in ten Australian secondary school students get the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity every day of the week. The targeted secondary schools program (Years 7 and 8) provides fun Orienteering activities designed to spark the motivations and interests of these students.
3. Provide access to tailored resources for schools where there is evidence of disadvantage. Studies show that areas of social disadvantage can often link to large groups of inactive youth. Sporting Schools (and this Orienteering offering) hopes that by providing assistance and additional resources, we can help to hurdle the barriers these schools face.