Thanks to Llew and Bruce for organising and the courses for Sunday’s Baradene College school training event at Duder Regional Park – as orienteers are a collaborative bunch, the invite was broadcast wide and some CMOC members and also students from Sancta Maria College, BBI, Diocesan School for Girls and Macleans College were also in attendance.

The first focus was farm preparation for NZSS – particularly on a hilly map to prepare the students for whanawhana. The second focus was to offer route choice options – from “corner/ paddock cutting” at yellow level, to multiple route choices at orange and red level to give the students challenges to consider and learn from.

There were shadowed runs available to help the students develop, “map talks” afterwards and many got to run two courses. Skills on test included using bearings, and improving the recognition and use of contours for navigation.

The farmland event was particularly valuable to get in training on as the upcoming Nationals will be held in the Hawke’s Bay also on hilly farmland terrain.

Thanks also to Brian and Anthony for assisting on the day, and to Alicia and Lily for helping with collecting controls at the close of the event.

Check out our Facebook page for more photos from the event.