Schools Knowledge Hub

Welcome to the year 7 & 8 and secondary schools’ knowledge hub, where you can find helpful tips for:

  • TICs / Managers – teachers, staff, or parents who are responsible for coordinating an orienteering team.
  • Students – year 7 & 8, and secondary school students who want to take part in orienteering.
  • Parents – parents and guardians of students who want to take part in orienteering.
  • Coaches – teachers, parents, students, or external coaches who are responsible for providing training or advice to students participating in orienteering.

Additionally, here is a collection of recommended resources for those wanting to further extend their knowledge of orienteering.

Schools Resources

Are you a teacher, staff, or parent thinking about managing a school orienteering team or wanting to make your experience as a manager more successful? We recommend following these steps.

  • Orienteering is a sport where participants use a special map to navigate their way around a set course.
  • Orienteering is a race against the clock where the fastest participant to complete the course wins. For many participants not making navigation errors is the goal.
  • Understanding the symbols and colours on the map is essential for enjoyment and success.
  • There are some common variations that students will experience called long distance, sprint distance and relay.

To learn more about maps the special maps used in orienteering, check out this short video.

To learn more about orienteering you should look at these resources:

But what does orienteering actually look like? Here’s a video to complete the picture.

  • School Sprint Series
  • Regional and National School Championships
  • Other school events like rogaines
  • Local club events
  • Extended club season
  • Regions with schools orienteering events listed online:
  • All club events and major school events are listed here, and you can search by region.
  • View the list of orienteering clubs in your region and the events calendar for your city, area or zone. Make sure you have been entered on time and have transport.
  • The season in most regions is set out to provide a progression from more accessible urban orienteering to more navigationally difficult orienteering so it’s best to get your team’s attendance up from day 1. But, if you miss the start of the season, that’s not a problem, you can join in at any time.
  • Creating a team culture around learning together.
  • Provide opportunities to learn new skills.
  • Create new relationships with students.
  • Get parents to come to an event to support, or even better, to participate.
  • There is a lot to learn in orienteering, and the skills required to improve are best learned with an orienteering map in hand and from someone who can explain the skills clearly. It’s valuable for students to have some basic training early in the season and have a coach they can direct questions to.
  • Getting an orienteering map of your school or local parks available for team training and newcomer introductions is advantageous.
  • A teacher who managers a sports team has a good opportunity to create new or enhanced relationships with their students.
  • Orienteering is a family orientated sport and getting parents to participate in some capacity provides a synergy that doesn’t appear in many sports. Getting parents more involved helps with organisation, transport and coaching.
  • Reach out to your local club and establish a relationship.
  • Encourage students to join your local club.
  • Ask your local club about maps and courses that might be available.
  • Experience shows that successful school teams have a strong connection to clubs. This is because clubs have all the experience and resources and tapping into these will make your life easier.
  • It’s possible that your school and local parks are already mapped for orienteering, especially in major centres. But there are still some expertise required to prepare the maps and set up courses – expertise that a local club can help with.

Thinking about joining or starting an orienteering team at year 7 & 8 or secondary school? Here’s a guide on how to start, how to get better, and how to make your school team sustainable.

  • Orienteering is a sport where participants use a special map to navigate their way around a set course.
  • Orienteering is a race against the clock where the fastest participant to complete the course wins. For many participants not making navigation errors is the goal.
  • Understanding the symbols and colours on the map is essential for enjoyment and success.
  • There are some common variations that students will experience called, long distance, sprint distance and relay.

To learn more about maps the special maps used in orienteering, check out this short video.

To learn more about orienteering you should look at these resources:

But what does orienteering actually look like? Here’s a video to complete the picture.

  • School Sprint Series
  • Regional and National School Championships
  • Other school events like rogaines
  • Local club events
  • Extended club season
  • Make sure your team manager knows which events require overnight trips at the start of the season so they can plan for it with plenty of time.
  • Regions with schools orienteering events listed online:
  • All club events and major school events are listed here, and you can search by region.
  • View the list of orienteering clubs in your region and the events calendar for your city, area or zone. Make sure you have been entered on time and have transport.
  • The season in most regions is set out to provide a progression from more accessible urban orienteering to more navigationally difficult orienteering so it’s best to get your team’s attendance up from day 1. But, if you miss the start of the season, that’s not a problem, you can join in at any time.
  • Regional and national championships might require an overnight trip to another region. To help your manager and school organise and budget for the trip you should make sure they know these dates as early as possible in the season.
  • Find a parent or teacher to manage your team’s entries and transportation.
  • Join your local club and connect your school with one or two club members.
  • Become a coach or find a coach from your local club.
  • Get parents to come to an event to support, or even better, to participate.
  • Experience shows that it’s tougher sustaining a school team without a manager, parent or teacher in charge to do the things they do best like organise entries, get funding and coordinate transport. It doesn’t matter exactly who takes these roles as long as they are reliable.
  • Getting in touch with your local club is a great way to access resources and support that your school may not be able to provide, and clubs are happy to help. Support could be a simple as some tips after the next competition, or as involved and setting up a full training exercise
  • If you’re getting more confident with your orienteering, and enjoy teaching others, then it might be time to get some basic training as a coach. The coaching system is run through your club, but will give you the coaching skills to take back to your school team.
  • Orienteering is relatively unique in that it allows parents and students to take on the exact same challenge and compare notes afterwards. This helps parents learn the sport better and can help the team learn faster overall. Getting parents more involved also helps with organisation, transport and coaching.

Do you have a child joining a school team and wanting to understand what orienteering is all about or how best to help the team? Here’s a quick breakdown on this unique sport.

  • Orienteering is a sport where participants use a special map to navigate their way around a set course.
  • Orienteering is a race against the clock where the fastest participant to complete the course wins. For many participants not making navigation errors is the goal.
  • Understanding the symbols and colours on the map is essential for enjoyment and success.
  • There are some common variations that students will experience called, long distance, sprint distance and relay.

To learn more about maps the special maps used in orienteering, check out this short video.

To learn more about orienteering you should look at these resources:

But what does orienteering actually look like? Here’s a video to complete the picture.

  • School Sprint Series
  • Regional and National School Championships
  • Other school events like rogaines
  • Local club events
  • Extended club season
  • Regions with schools orienteering events listed online:
  • All club events and major school events are listed here, and you can search by region.
  • View the list of orienteering clubs in your region and the events calendar for your city, area or zone. Make sure you have been entered on time and have transport.
  • The season in most regions is set out to provide a progression from more accessible urban orienteering to more navigationally difficult orienteering so it’s best to get your team’s attendance up from day 1. But, if you miss the start of the season, that’s not a problem, you can join in at any time.
  • Offer to help with transport.
  • Give orienteering a go.
  • Offering to help with transport, especially on weekends, is very useful because it’s a major barrier for some students and it helps out the team manager who is often a busy teacher.
  • Orienteering is relatively unique in that it allows parents and students to take on the exact same challenge and compare notes afterwards. This helps parents learn the sport better and can help the team learn faster overall.

Thinking about coaching a year 7 & 8 or secondary school orienteering team or wanting to make your experience as a coach more successful? We have a complete guide on what to coach and how to improve your coaching.

We’re realistic about the challenge of coaching orienteering if you’re a relative newcomer to the sport. So if your school team wants coaching input, we recommend that you reach out to your local club for advice and even consider getting someone from your local club on board.

  • Coaches for school teams come in many shapes and sizes:
    • A parent or teacher who already orienteers.
    • A student who is experienced and competent enough to provide guidance to their peers.
    • A member of a local club who has built a relationship with a school.
    • An experienced orienteer who has been formally approached by the school and might receive remuneration or payment.
  • The right arrangement will depend on many things, but it is important to have a coach who understands the sport well enough to explain the key skills without confusing new participants.
  • To learn more you should look at these resources:
  • Consider what level of navigational difficulty you might be coaching and therefore what level of coaching qualification you would need.
GradeDifficulty for non-sprint individual competitions
Year 7 & 8 StandardWhite
Year 7 & 8 ChampionshipYellow
Junior StandardWhite
Junior ChampionshipYellow
Intermediate StandardYellow
Intermediate ChampionshipOrange
Senior NoviceYellow
Senior StandardOrange
Senior ChampionshipRed
GradeDifficulty for non-sprint relay competitions
Year 7 & 8 ChampionshipWhite and yellow
Junior ChampionshipWhite and yellow
Intermediate ChampionshipYellow
Senior ChampionshipOrange
GradeDifficulty for sprint competitions
Year 7 & 8Sprint easy
JuniorSprint moderate
IntermediateSprint difficult
SeniorSprint difficult