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Robinwood. North Pennines Activity Centre, Barhaugh Hall Near Alston Cumbria. Wed 25 th September- Fri 27 th Sept 2013. Where is Robinwood?. Robinwood is an activity centre called Barhaugh Hall, situated 4 miles north of Alston in Cumbria. It takes approximately
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Robinwood North Pennines Activity Centre, Barhaugh Hall Near Alston Cumbria Wed 25th September- Fri 27th Sept 2013
Where is Robinwood? • Robinwood is an activity centre called Barhaugh Hall, situated 4 miles north of Alston in Cumbria. • It takes approximately 1 ½ hours to arrive by coach.
Archery Moorland Challenge Dragon Quest River Walk Canoeing Trapeze Piranha Pool Crate Challenge Giant Swing Climbing and Abseiling Caving Obstacle Course Night line Team Challenge Zip wire
Water confidence • The centre states that children do not need to be able to swim to take part in the watersports, they must be confident in water though (in other words they would not panic if they fell in). • Watersports take place on a sheltered water, just over a metre deep and are always within 8m of the bank, so are able to stand up and walk to the edge. • No children this year fell in, although some of the adults came close!
Wet and muddy clothes Children’s clothing might get muddy. There is a drying room, particularly for footwear, coats and towels. There is a laundry facility. Group leaders collect in wet, muddy clothing and wash, dry and return to children. Each group’s clothing goes into a different bucket and is returned to the group the next day. Please make sure clothing is named. Unfortunately ironing is not included!
Aims for the trip Objectives of the trip are developed to satisfy the outdoor and adventurous activities requirements of the National Curriculum and also the teamwork and social skills of the PSHCE curriculum
Aims for the trip for the children During the course what we will expect of the children: To follow instructions given. To keep themselves and everyone else safe. To challenge themselves. To be a good team member. To take responsibility for their own property and jobs. To be helpful to others. To respect other peoples privacy and property. To be a good ambassador for the school.
Risk Assessments Detailed risk assessments of all activities and areas at Robinwood, which the school has a copy of. School also carried out a risk assessment of the site on a preliminary visit to ensure suitability for all our children, before our visit this year. Risk assessments are carried out before each visit to take account the needs of the children in that year group.
Safe Environments All activities are aimed at a safe, introductory level for the 8-11 year old age range that the site caters for. E.g. include: Indoor climbing walls up to a height of 6m rather than outdoor climbing to higher levels. Canoeing on sheltered water, just over a metre deep, with the bank always within 8 m, rather than paddling on a big lake. Activities will be a challenge for the children, but will remain in a safe, well supervised environment throughout. On arrival schools are briefed about fire safety procedures, being shown the emergency exits and fire assembly point and will have a fire drill on the day of arrival, so all children understand where they are to be.
Staffing ratios Staffing ratios- level is appropriate to the nature of the activity taking place e.g. Supervision for climbing or abseiling is 1:1 At all times the staffing ratios meet or exceeds the ratios laid down by national governing bodies. The numbers quoted only refer to the Robinwood staff, and does not include the school staff. In addition to the staff supplied by Robinwood, there will also be one school staff with each group of up to 13.
Robinwood Staff Training Extensive staff training and individual assessment by an expert for each activity before they are deemed qualified to take charge of the activity. Monitored and assessed on an ongoing basis. Robinwood Activity Centre were winners of the Investors in People National Training Award and National Awards achieved by staff are: B.C.U awards for Open Canoeing M.L.T.B. Climbing awards M.L.T.B. Walking Group Leader Course G.N.A.S. Archery Leader Award Mountain and Outdoor First Aid and First Aid at Work. All staff are C.R.B. (Criminal Records Bureau) checked
Specialist equipment Suggest practical, hard wearing clothing suitable for outdoor activities. Specialist equipment including buoyancy aids, helmets and harnesses are provided. A set of waterproof cagoules and over trousers are issued to each child upon arrival and additional equipment before each activity. Best to leave new or expensive clothing at home!
Activity groups Split into small groups up to 13 children in each activity group. Each group has a Group Leader who stays with their group throughout the 3 day course for all activity sessions allowing them to develop working relationships with the children and know how they can get the best out of the children, so they can be pushed to reach their potential.
Weather conditions • Activities take place what ever the weather. • The only time an activity is stopped is when high winds stop the higher tree activities taking place such as zip wire or the giant swing. • An alternative indoor activity will be offered in a sheltered environment such as first aid training or orienteering around the grounds. • The children need to ensure that they do have warm clothes, but the site will keep on providing them with fleeces if they get cold.
No one is forced to do any activity at Robinwood! • Part of the trip is about challenging your fears and overcoming them. • Lots of encouragement will be given to any child (or member of staff!!!) who is nervous about attempting an activity. • The staff will show any children how safe the activity is, how much fun it is and encourage them to have a go when they are ready. • Robinwood will be aware of children with any additional needs and aim to involve children at some level in each activity so they can participate with their group. • Robinwood is challenging for both the children and the adults. It is a tiring 3 days but an extremely worthwhile and enjoyable stay. • The amount of school staff volunteering to go always exceeds the amount available to go, showing how worthwhile and enjoyable the staff think the experience is.
Evening and Night time supervision • After final activity session, around 9pm, the children meet with night duty staff for hot chocolate and a biscuit before bedtime. • Meeting lasts around 30 minutes to include a review of the day. • Aim to have children in bed at 10pm, quiet chat for 10 minutes and quiet from 10.10pm. • Duty staff stand at the dormitory doors from 10pm to ensure quiet from 10.10pm and continually patrol the corridors during the night.
During the night • A night time diary is kept where details of children coming out of the dormitory are written down for medical issues, homesickness or behavioural issues. • School staff are nearby with rooms close to the children, if they are needed and one member of staff is known to all the Robinwood night duty staff and can be called upon.
Dormitories • All dormitories have bunk beds • Range in size from 4-14. • Children are put in dormitories according to their activity group. • All rooms have a call button for emergencies and sensors which alert staff if the bedroom door opens.
Robinwood are made aware of children who suffer from bedwetting. • All centre staff will be made aware of these cases and will check each morning to see if the bed needs stripping. • All bedding and bed clothes will be removed and changed while the children are carrying out the activities, so no-one realises and saves any form of embarrassment to the child. • Children mustn’t be afraid to say if they have had an accident, as it helps centre staff to sort out the problem quickly.
Other schools resident at Robinwood • There will usually be at least one other school booked in whilst we are there. • The children will be of similar age but are unlikely to be seen due to the timetable being very busy. • Both dormitories and activity groups are allocated just for our school and meal times will be separate sittings or separate dining rooms.
Robinwood meals • All groups have a cooked breakfast and cooked evening meal. A light lunch is provided. • Squash and water is available throughout the day and a hot drink and biscuit before bed. • Meals are served in the dining hall.
Examples of Meals • Breakfast: Cereals and toasts together with a cooked breakfast e.g. sausage and beans, Bacon and tomatoes or beans on toast. • Lunch: Packed lunch provided by the centre on the expedition walk (first day). Sandwiches, choice of fillings, are offered every day of the course but hot dogs and/or baked potatoes with filings are offered as an alternative. Fruit, crisps and biscuit are also offered. • Evening meal: typical meals include Pizza, Fish and Chips and Pasta Bolognaise. Sweets offered include Ice Cream, Apple Crumble and Angel Whirl. • Children are asked on the first day for their choice of meals for the rest of the course. • Robinwood have had all medical forms with information about dietary requests already sent to them before hand.
Suggested clothing list • 3 t shirts, 3 sweatshirts • 3 pairs of trousers, 1 pair of shorts • 6 sets of underwear, 6 pairs of socks (please include warmer socks as thin socks aren’t warm enough especially with Wellington boots) • 1 pair of trainers (indoor use), 1 pair of outdoor shoes (old trainers or hiking boots) • 2 towels • 1 coat • 1 warm hat/ gloves • 1 set of night wear • 1 bag of toiletries • We found that as the weather is unpredictable, items of clothing should be included that can be worn as layers.
Recommendations • We recommend that children do not bring anything valuable with them such as computer consoles, music players or mobile phones. • There will be no time for such activities and there is no mobile phone reception at Robinwood. • If there is a problem and you need to be contacted we shall phone school and they will contact you, unless it is an emergency and we shall contact you directly. • Should you need to get in contact with us, then phone school and they shall contact us.
Please… • If you decide that you would love the opportunity for your child to go away to Robinwood, there are a few pleas that we would like to make to you to make your child’s stay more enjoyable: • Please could you make sure your child knows how to dress themselves, including tying shoe laces. • Please could you make sure that your child has stayed at least one night away from home. • Please could you not pack food in the children’s suitcases for midnight feasts or tell them that they have to have a chocolate bar before bed, unless it is written down on the medical form. • Please could you make sure that your child has showered, dried and dressed themselves independently.
What others think of the course… • 96% of schools rebook the course for the following year within two weeks after getting back from the trip!!
We have been to some other centres but none compare to Robinwood – it exceeded every expectation we had. Most importantly the children were safe and well looked after. We’ll definitely be back. Escomb Primary School, Bishop Aukland As always our children were encouraged and challenged to their limit. We could see children growing with confidence before our eyes. We had smiles of pride, words of encouragement, tears of fulfilment and lots of determination. Keep doing what you are doing and many more children will experience their special time at Robinwood. Aldermoor Farm Primary School, Coventry http://www.robinwood.co.uk
