Surving Disasters returns to Mullumbimby High for 2026

New Year. New Faces. Same Big Energy and Real Skills at Mullumbimby High.

Surviving Disasters is officially back at Mullumbimby High for 2026, with Jen and Marlena kicking off the term alongside a new group of Year 11 LifeReady students. After running a full term here last year, it felt pretty special to return.

Day one brought spaghetti, marshmallows, teamwork, laughs, a bit of chaos and a lot of learning. These hands-on challenges might look like fun (and they are), but they’re designed to build real-world skills, helping young people stay calm, think critically and work together when things feel uncertain.

Day 2 focused on Stay or Leave disaster scenarios, with students forming “family groups” and working through different emergency situations to decide how households might respond under pressure. We followed this with a grab-bag relay, where teams raced to collect items they thought would be essential in an emergency kit, then discussed what actually belongs in a well-prepared grab bag and why. Students took home a Disaster Plan to discuss with their families as these young adults are now a part of the conversation. They also took home a free Plan C disaster survival kit.

Day 3 took learning into the bush at Rewildyou, where students practised hands-on survival skills including fire making, snake bite response and building debris shelters. Our new Managing Director, Sam, joined the day as students worked together, learnt new skills and finished the session tired, dusty and proud of what they’d achieved.

This year, our modules are mapped directly to the NSW LifeReady curriculum outcomes, meaning students are building practical disaster preparedness skills, critical thinking and emotional regulation within their senior studies.

We’re grateful to be back in the Mullum High community and excited for six weeks of big ideas, brave conversations, bush skills on Country, UHF radio training, scenario challenges and myth-busting media smarts.

Stay tuned.

If you’re interested in bringing our free youth disaster resilience program to your school, youth group, sports club or community organisation, you’re welcome to submit an Expression of Interest and our team will be in touch.