On Feb 4, 6:35*pm, jsbrake wrote:
My club is in Canada, so FAA rules don't quite apply (I know, the CARs
aren't that much different) *We have a large field with many
runways, surrounded by farm land; the nearest town is 10 km away.

We restrict solo students to being within gliding range and they must
remain upwind of the field until they enter the landing circuit.
These restrictions remain in effect until they move beyond the 2-33
and 1-26 and take the Bronze Badge course. *

While we're "Canadian Air Reg'ing", in Canada: “solo flight time”
means, with respect to the flight time necessary to acquire a permit,
licence or rating, "the flight time during which the holder is the
sole occupant of an aircraft while under the direction and supervision
of the holder of an instructor rating". The usual interpretation is
that in order to direct and supervise, the glider must remain within
visual range of the airport. A solo student who has an incident/
accident outside that range may (should?) bring pointed questions to
the instructor... Once licenced, Bronze and Silver legs provide
challenges to expand their flight envelope - if they get into problems
away from the field, they have the skills/judgement to overcome the
challenge, which a solo student may not.
As for judgement - "Good judgement comes from experience. Experience
comes from bad judgement."