Each class goes on a trip organised by their teacher to tie in with the term’s topic. These tend to be local and fall within the school day timings usually.
The trips away start small. For some they might just be an overnight stay or a weekend residential to start with. Each year we offer the children the chance to go on several weekends away. For many this will be their first time away from home and it can be a very empowering experience. The activities build on what we have been doing throughout the year in our adventure sessions and it’s always a great time to strengthen friendships and teacher-pupil bonds.
Many of our pupils do Duke of Edinburgh as we run so many events to fit the criteria and it's a great experience for almost everyone, as well as looking good on any CV later in life. We also enter interested teams of pupils in to Ten Tors, open to pupils between 14-20 years. Ten Tors is a weekend event that sees teams of 6 students from schools all over Devon and beyond navigating 35,45 and 55 miles across Dartmoor. It’s an amazing experience and a great addition to any university application.
Our training for both D of E and Ten Tors starts from the time you join the school as we often venture out onto the moor and are always learning the skills that both these sorts of challenges require. For those interested in Ten Tors we take part in a series of smaller walks such as The Exmoor Challenge (16 miles) and The Abbot’s Way Walk (21.5 miles) in preparation.
‘This is possibly one of the most amazing experiences a child can take away from their school journey. The combination of breath taking mountain scenery, the excitement of flying, the fairy tale feeling that only a snow scape can offer and the physical and mental challenge of skiing alongside your classmates and teachers, as well as being in a foreign country is just about unimaginable.’ Mr Jenner, Head of Adventure with 30 year's experience in skiing and ski trip organisation.
Every 3 years The Department of Adventure organises a cultural trip to somewhere further away.
Our big trips are selected to take our pupils out of the Western world they know and introduce them to different cultures. We select destinations that are appropriate for a large age range of pupils and parents are welcome to join us to. We run the expeditions every three years to allow pupils time to try and earn money to help cover the cost of their trip.
Just four hours away, Morocco enjoys an exotic culture ideal for a family adventure holiday. We’ll trek through the Atlas Mountains and stay in Berber villages, discover the huge sand dunes of the Sahara and relax in a tented oasis. In Marrakech, we plunge into the bustle and bargains of the colourful kasbahs and bazaars.
Pupils are encouraged to raise a substantial proportion of the trip costs themselves.
Most pupils raise at least half of the trips fees and some raise the entire amount. This is a lesson in itself. They get so much more out of the experience if they work towards it and it's not just given to them. To this end we work on a 3-year program which gives them sufficient time to run a series of events, get a part time job maybe, or organise and run a series of short lectures, film shows, hands-on workshops to raise funds. It also allows participants time to learn more about the culture they will be visiting.
