When children and teenagers attend school in a nature-rich country serious about sustainability, it becomes the perfect backdrop for them to immerse in the outdoors and truly care for the environment. That’s exactly the kind of learning experience Jerudong International School in Brunei provides –– filled with adventure and opportunity to make an impact beyond the classroom.
In this British International Day and Boarding School, home to 1,700 girls and boys from 45 countries, your child will replant trees on barren land, hike on routes across Brunei and abroad, or become a strong scout. As one of the biggest schools in Southeast Asia, JIS’s 120-acre campus offers extensive facilities and resources for students to build the kind of confidence and resilience that lasts a lifetime.
“At JIS, we ‘walk the walk’ as well as ‘talk the talk’ with opportunities for outdoor education embedded in our curricular and non-curricular learning opportunities from our youngest to oldest learners,” says John Witton, Head of Outdoor Education.
“From Forest School activities for our Reception students to the Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s (DofE) Award for our Sixth Form students, there are countless opportunities to connect with the natural world and each other.”
Outdoor Discovery Centre
Sustainability is less of a subject and more of a way of life at JIS. When the building of a new sports complex was cancelled, leaving behind a rugged scrubland right by campus, it was teachers and students who initiated a replanting project back in 2016. That marked the start of the Outdoor Discovery Centre (ODC) – a student-led initiative to restore the 10,000 square metres of forest to its former glory. The school first received the Global Eco Schools Green Flag Award in 2022 for this project and was re-awarded it in 2025.
It’s clearly deserving too –– which other school would introduce stingless bees into their ecosystem, giving students the chance to harvest and sell organic honey? At the ODC, leadership skills are built through projects like rewilding, maintaining fruit and vegetable gardens, eco-art, and composting from food waste and rainwater harvesting tanks.
Forest School
For children in Kindergarten through Year 2, Forest School is a weekly part of the timetable, turning play into purposeful exploration. Set within JIS’s lush rainforest surroundings, these sessions foster curiosity, resilience, and an early love for nature. Older students can take part too, through eco-programmes that run after school — building their knowledge of the natural world while gaining confidence and self-belief.
“I firmly believe that the greatest lessons we can teach children are confidence, and how to be comfortable in their own skin,” Witton says. “Outdoor activities do that like nothing else, and JIS does activities like no school I know.”
Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award
At JIS, learning stretches far beyond textbooks. As hosts to the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, JIS allows learners between Year 10 and Sixth Form to develop holistic skills through adventure in the “world’s leading youth achievement award”. They’ll volunteer, take up physical activities like water sports or dance, and travel to countries like Indonesia, Kenya and China for rigorous expeditions.
Participants complete one of three progressive levels, depending on their year. Currently, 124 out of 177 students in Year 10 are participating in the Bronze Award. Those in Year 11 complete the Silver Award, while Sixth Form students go for Gold. To gear them up for the DofE Award, JIS ran training sessions over two weekends just last year, with 90 students camping overnight on the school’s purpose-built campsite as part of the Bronze Training Weekend.
JIS Campsite
Speaking of camping, the JIS Campsite is tucked behind the Sports Complex and the Osprey Boarding House to give students a true taste of outdoor living. It houses up to 120 students and staff, 13 earthed huts, as well as solar fans and lighting to keep the facilities green. You might see students by the beach using natural resources to complete a science project, or participants in the DofE Award training rigorously for their fitness activities.
“The memories that children leave school with are unlikely to be of Maths or History lesson, exciting as these may be,” Witton says. “They will be of overcoming fears, the thrill of abseiling off a ledge, plummeting down a river, or just spending a night under the stars, with friends, eating a meal that they cooked together.”
Year Group Camps
Taking on new adventures is inevitable at JIS, especially when Years 4 to 9 are immersed in themed group camps. “Outdoor Education is part of the DNA of the educational experience at JIS,” Witton says. “All students will experience outdoor learning in some form, and our year group trips are a great example of that.”
Each year brings new challenges and new places:
– In Year 4, students hike from the JIS campsite to the beach.
– In Year 5, they fly to Sarawak to explore the Niah Caves.
– Year 6 travels to Sabah for a ropes course in Kota Kinabalu.
– In Years 7 and 8, they head to Brunei’s Temburong District for zip-lining and cultural discovery.
– By Year 9, it’s off to Gopeng, Malaysia, for six days of caving and white-water rafting.
1st Jerudong Scouts
There’s nothing quite like the sense of belonging that comes from wearing a Scout uniform. At JIS, the 1st Jerudong Scouts — part of the wider British Scouting network — offer students from Years 1 to 9 a fun, structured way to develop leadership, teamwork, and life skills.
There are three sections in total: yellow shirts for the Year 1 and 2 students in Beavers, green for the Years 3 to 5 in Cubs, and a navy blue paired with a JIS tartan neckerchief for the Scouts in Years 6 to 9.
Weekly, you’ll catch the Beavers, Cubs, and Scouts striving for their badges as co-curricular activities after school. There are plenty of other events they’ll partake in too, from the investiture ceremony where new recruits get inducted into the 1st Jerudong Scouts, to overnight camps where they’re singing songs and melting chocolate bananas over campfires.
Hear from a student
Adelina Shalapinina
Year 13 IB Diploma student, Class of ‘25
When Adelina Shalapinina moved from the Netherlands to Brunei, she knew it would be a big change. What she didn’t expect was how much it would change her — for the better. “It was overwhelming,” she says. “But I decided to make the most of it, and it’s been the best decision.”
Attending JIS has pushed her out of her comfort zone in ways she’d never expected –– like taking part in the “once-in-a-lifetime” Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. “I’m not usually an outdoorsy person, but DofE made hiking and camping surprisingly enjoyable,” Shalapinina says. “During those long hikes, I’d think, ‘I can’t climb another hill,’ but then I’d manage, and that resilience carried over to school.”
Overcoming challenges during the DofE helped Shalapinina build confidence and resilience. Now, she’d tell herself during exam periods, “If I managed the hills, I can manage this.” It’s a mindset that’s taken her far. Today, the Year 13 IB Diploma student holds an offer to study Psychology at the University of Amsterdam.
“When I doubt myself, I remember that I’ve overcome challenges before,” she says. “My previous school in the Netherlands didn’t offer as many extracurriculars, so having access to these opportunities and working with knowledgeable teachers here is fantastic.”
An enriching education awaits at Jerudong International School.
