When Kathryn Harink, Student Leadership Coordinator at Williamstown High School, was looking for a team building activity for her student leaders, she had a specific brief in mind.
These weren’t just any students. They were the Year 8 and 9 students who would be leading the rest of the school for the year ahead — coordinating events, representing their peers, working together across year levels on initiatives that required them to function as a genuine team. The excursion needed to do more than be enjoyable. It needed to actually build something.
Urban Quest had already delivered for Williamstown High School once before. That repeat booking says more than any brochure could.
Why Williamstown Chose Urban Quest Again
Kathryn’s decision to return to Urban Quest was grounded in direct evidence — the students who had done it the previous year.
“We chose Urban Quest as it’s a company we’ve used before — highly recommended, really positive experience from the students who did it last year, so we were keen to do it again.”
That feedback loop — students reporting back on what they experienced, a coordinator acting on it — is one of the most reliable signals in school excursion decision-making. When students who went the previous year are still talking about it positively, the coordinator booking the next cohort isn’t taking a risk. They’re backing a known outcome.
Watch Kathryn share her full perspective on why she brought her student leaders to Urban Quest:
What She Was Trying to Build
The context for this booking is specific and worth understanding. Student leaders aren’t a random cohort — they’re students who have been selected to take on responsibility for others. They need to trust each other, communicate under pressure, and lead by example in situations where they don’t always have a script to follow.
A standard excursion — a museum visit, a performance, a guided tour — doesn’t create those conditions. An experience that requires genuine collaborative problem-solving under time pressure does.
“We really wanted these students to come together and form a team. They’re going to be working together for the year, leading the rest of the students — so this fit the bill.”
That phrase — “fit the bill” — is the considered judgement of an experienced educator who has seen enough excursions to know the difference between one that entertains and one that produces something. Urban Quest fit the brief because the brief was specific: genuine team formation, not a day out.
What Made Urban Quest Stand Out
Kathryn identified three things specifically when reflecting on why Urban Quest works for her students.
Technology That Students Are Immediately Invested In
“Incorporating the technology in a fun but also effective way — I think that really makes Urban Quest stand out. The students were instantly interested and fascinated about how they were going to be using their phones on this excursion, and very excited about that.”
That instant engagement matters for student leaders specifically. These are students who need to model enthusiasm and commitment for the rest of the school. An activity they’re visibly excited about from the briefing sets the right tone for the kind of leadership day Williamstown was trying to create.
Exploring the City in a Structured, Safe Way
“The opportunity to explore their city — I think that’s a big one. But in a very structured and safe way, working together in teams, safety in numbers, and being able to explore their city.”
For Year 8 and 9 students, the CBD can feel either daunting or exciting depending on how it’s framed. Urban Quest frames it as both — a genuine challenge that requires navigating unfamiliar streets, structured by the platform so that no team is ever lost or unsupported. The safety-in-numbers observation is one Williamstown coordinators have made consistently: teams of five to six, moving together, accountable to each other and to the platform, produce a sense of independence that feels earned rather than given.
Ease of Organisation — Including When Plans Change
This is the practical dimension that experienced school coordinators prioritise as much as the educational one.
“Really, really easy. Urban Quest were very responsive. We had to change our date at quite late notice and that was accommodated — which was really appreciated.”
A last-minute date change is one of the most stressful things a school coordinator deals with. Venues that can’t flex create ripple effects through term planning, transport bookings, and parent communications. The fact that Urban Quest absorbed a late change without friction is the kind of operational reliability that turns a good first experience into a repeat booking — and a repeat booking into a school that becomes an annual client.
What the Student Leaders Took Away
The excursion was designed to build a team that would function together for the rest of the year. The Urban Quest format — competitive teams, unfamiliar challenges, shared navigation of the CBD — created the conditions for exactly that.
Student leaders who have solved something difficult together in an unfamiliar environment carry a different kind of social capital into their leadership role than those who’ve only met in meetings. They have a shared story. They know how each other operates under pressure. They’ve seen each other lead when it mattered.
That’s what Kathryn was building. And it’s why Williamstown keeps coming back.
Explore Urban Quest’s school excursions →
Read what secondary students from across Victoria experience →
Contact Urban Quest for a school excursion proposal →
Williamstown High School has run multiple Urban Quest CBD excursions across different year levels and cohorts. Urban Quest has delivered school excursions for hundreds of Victorian secondary schools, including Melbourne High School, St Kevin’s College, Emmaus College, Koo Wee Rup Secondary College, Nazareth College, Cranbourne East Secondary College, Blackburn High School, Baimbridge College, Point Cook College, and many more.
