Education Travel Group

New Improvements at Dukeshouse Wood

Carol — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 10:44:25 +0000

In March 2010 we are completing the second phase of the Dukeshouse Wood centre refurbishment with many new facilities and great improvements to buildings. Accommodation is in comfortable, clean lodges with boys and girls sleeping in separate houses and teachers nearby. These dormitories have been fully improved and updated, all with en-suite bathrooms for children and teachers. We have also completed an upgrade to the dining hall and completing pathways and groundworks. The new 8000 sq ft all weather barn is where children can experience indoor climbing, laser arena and new ICT lab facilities. The centre is also fully secure with fencing, electronic security gates and CCTV around the site.

“Dukeshouse Wood is our favourite residential site. This is our second year and we shall definitely come again! A lovely site with a great family ethos and fantastic facilities. Every session is a great adventure.” - Year 6 Teacher

The NEW ‘Best in Class’ Educational Activity Centre Opens

Carol — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:34:42 +0000

Following a multi-million pound upgrade Grosvenor Hall, near Ashford has now opened it’s doors to visiting schools and colleges. The former state of the art Police Training Centre is already being hailed as the best Educational activity centre anywhere within Europe. The new centre is just minutes from J9 of the M20 and consists of almost 200,000 sq ft and 50 acres of educational, adventure, sports and recreational facilities within a fully secure 50 acre site.

Grosvenor Hall represents a new standard in the provision of learning outside the classroom with superb teacher and student accommodation, a 25,000 sq ft sports hall, an aquatics centre and a £1m high-adrenaline activity park. The activity park includes some of the most exciting sessions available in the UK including the unique Sky Climb installation which can cater for an entire school group, a double-power fan, Triple Zip Wire, Climbing and Abseiling towers and double 3G swings.

The educational programme features some totally new learning experiences including the Curriculus maze, kids court, media centre with its own radio station and high tec ICT block. Kingswood is also delivering their established learning programmes including Discovery, 3+ Plus, Environmental and Language courses from the impressive Education block. Recreation facilities are also excellent with a huge kids hub close to the main teacher retreat, Blu-ray cinema, radio station, indoor and outdoor laser arena, dance studio and recreation club.

Visiting schools are allocated their own dedicated common rooms and sleeping accommodation consists of student rooms that sleep between 2 and 4 and high quality mainly single en-suite teacher rooms. For night supervision all student accommodation blocks have fully equipped teacher lounges nearby. The substantial dining facility can cater for multi-faith groups simultaneously through separate dedicated kitchens.

Local Residents who want more information about development at Grosvenor Hall should visit our Community Pages

Rarely Cover and Learning Outside the Classroom

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:50:27 +0000

In August 2009 the DCSF stated “There is absolutely no reason why schools should stop providing school trips because of the rarely-cover provisions” and reaffirmed that the Department recognised that “Schools trips should be an integral part of every child’s education and personal development and provision for them should be included in school calendars and timetables”. The DCSF has reaffirmed that it would expect LOtC activities to be built in to an integrated curriculum.

The 2009 School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document, which came into effect on the 1 September 2009, explains that learning outside the classroom is an important part of the curriculum and that provision should be included in school calendars and timetables. As part of a school’s cover policy, appropriate arrangements should be made for both the staff and pupils who will be participating in learning outside the classroom and for those who are not.

For further information on rarely cover, please go to: http://www.tda.gov.uk/remodelling/nationalagreement/cover.aspx

And to see the full guidance in Section 4 of the 2009 STPCD go to: http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=14150

Kingswood Centres Launches New Primary Schools Programme

admin — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 11:28:51 +0000

Kingswood’s new programme for Key Stage 2 / Scottish P4-7 students is launched this week. Courses continue to focus on bringing key educational concepts out of the classroom learning environment, fulfilling the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto and Every Child Matters policy for teachers.

Our widely renowned “Discovery Programme” for 2009/10 has been refined into a selection of 8 core cross-curricular modules covering key areas such as ICT, the environment, science and lifeskills. Building on our key mission of “education” we assist teachers even further, with modules showing which year groups they are tailored for, the key learning objectives and evidence of learning. We have added many new activities at our 7 existing centres like new 3G Swings at Isle of Wight, Dukeshouse Wood and Peak Venture, new Team Challenge courses at Staffordshire and Isle of Wight and a High Ropes course at Overstrand, featuring High Equilibrium, Jungle Vines, High All Aboard, Leap of Faith, Jacob’s Ladder and Balance Beam. New activities also include Bouldering, Crate Stack and Bridge Building. Our new eighth centre for 2010 will open in March, at Grosvenor Hall, near Ashford in Kent, catering for Key Stage 2 pupils as well as older students. Many centres have had upgrades for 2009/10 including refurbishment of accommodation and facilities, with Dukeshouse Wood receiving a new Activity Barn, extending the number of indoor activities we can provide, especially in wet weather. For more information, please see our courses pages.

Education Travel Group Lobbies Government on ‘Rarely Cover’ Proposal

admin — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:10:09 +0000

The major teaching trade unions have published guidance which has been supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) on covering for absent teachers. This guidance sets out the process by which schools should deal with covering for absent teachers from the next academic year onwards. It is known as the Rarely Cover guidance and states that from 1st September 2009 schools should have systems in place to ensure that teachers have to cover for absent colleagues ‘only rarely’.

It has become increasingly apparent that an unintended consequence of this guidance is that it is discouraging schools from taking educational trips. In some of the cases we have seen, the teachers involved in organising the trip are still trying to convince their headteacher or board of governors that the trip should take place, but the school leadership is taking a very cautious view of the guidance and will not authorise the trips.

Having looked at the guidance, we believe that it is not the Government’s intention for it to discourage teachers from taking school trips. This would go against the direction of all recent policy on this issue which has actively tried to encourage educational school trips. As a result we have been working with our PR and Public Affairs agencies to lobby the government on this issue and we have recently met with Sarah Conboy from the Rarely Cover team to voice our concerns.

Following on from this meeting I am pleased to announce that we have had it confirmed by Rarely Cover that the guidance was never intended to have an adverse effect on school trips and that they would not expect schools to use this as a reason not to take trips. In addition a draft copy of the guidance is now going to be sent out to consultation over the summer and we have the opportunity to review and respond to the proposal. We will now be working with both Rarely Cover and the DCSF to get the message out to schools that the Rarely Cover guidance should not impact on school trips. We will continue to monitor this situation very closely.

Government U-Turn Over Key Stage 2 SATs

admin — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:52:36 +0000

Recently the Government expressed a desire to change the dates of Key Stage 2 SATs exams from May to June. This would have seriously impacted on our business with many schools coming in this period after SATs either as a reward for their students’ hard work or just for their class to have the opportunity of spending the last bit of fun time together before leaving for secondary school.

In recent weeks Education Travel Group has been working with our PR and public affairs agencies to implement a lobbying campaign requesting that the Government and their Expert Group of advisors reconsider their recommendations to move these SATs exams. Recently we welcomed the announcement by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) that the proposed rescheduling of the Key Stage 2 SATs exams from May to June in 2010 has been postponed.

In a ministerial statement on Wednesday 8th July, Mr Vernon Coaker, minister of state for schools and learners, stated that he “can confirm that tests in 2010 will take place as planned in the week commencing 10th May. Having taken account of QCA and Ofqual’s advice, we will seek to implement the Expert Group’s recommendation on moving the test to mid June in 2011”.

If the Government persisted with its policy of moving SATs from May to June, this would have made it increasingly difficult for teachers to take students on school trips, hindering their ability to learn outside the classroom and would not aid in creating a ‘broad and balanced curriculum’ as set out by the Education Secretary, undermining the Government’s own policy. We will continue to lobby the government so that the SATS will not be rescheduled at all. For those talking to Primary schools who were awaiting confirmation of KS2 SATS before booking their residential visits and/or trips, it would be opportune to quickly update them on these developments. Availability, particularly at Kingswood centres for May and early June is likely to fill extremely quickly now.

Kingswood Launches New Field Studies Courses for 2009/10

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:52:13 +0000

Kingswood Educational Activity Centres have launched their new Environmental Field Studies Courses for the 2009/10 academic year. The courses focus on GCSE, AS & A2 and Scottish Standards and Highers programmes. Covering Biology, Geography and Environmental Science, the courses have seen a complete update for the forthcoming academic year, tailored to each particular exam board, incorporating the new curricula, enabling teachers to quickly locate the relevant course options available to their school. Fieldwork still remains a key part of the examination process and Kingswood is extremely confident that the portfolio of studies will cover everything schools may need. Modules cover everything from landscape studies to rivers and coastal management, flora & fauna to settlement studies, tourism & ecosystem management. Students use state-of-the-art ICT Labs to analyse & compile their field data into graphs and charts to visualise and interpret some of the more difficult concepts they encounter. Well-established field studies centres offer some of the richest resources in the country for these topics, close to many SSSI’s and unique environments. For more information please visit www.kingswood.co.uk.

Camp Beaumont Launches New Alps Summer Camp Holiday

admin — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 09:51:35 +0000

After the success of Camp Beaumont Ski, Camp Beaumont launches its new Alps summer camp holiday, “French Adventures”. This holiday takes children to the beautiful French Alps, during July, staying at the ClubHotel Le Mont Corbier in Le Corbier. French Adventures is something very different for Camp Beaumont customers and campers, exploring the outdoors in clean, crisp mountain air and discovering outdoor adventure sports. Campers get to experience everything from Mountain Biking, Horseriding, Mountain Boarding, Mountain Karting, Tennis, Volleyball or cool off in the outdoor swimming pool. Children can experience the beauty and culture of this part of France and learn some of the French language in “French in Action” sessions.

Kingswood Announces New Centre

admin — Mon, 11 May 2009 14:08:08 +0000

Kingswood Educational Activity Centres has announced its purchase of Ashford’s Grosvenor Hall site. The UK’s leading educational activity provider and part of Education Travel Group, Kingswood will develop the site into the top educational activity centre in Europe, continuing the company’s rich heritage of study, sports and technology.

Formerly a police training centre, Grosvenor Hall has been vacant since 2006. Following a multi-million pound development by Kingswood, the 50 acre Grosvenor Hall site will reopen in March 2010 as a high specification educational centre of excellence, with some of the best outdoor education facilities in the UK.

The culmination of 30 years of experience, Grosvenor Hall will represent the pinnacle of education and adventure provision, building on the recent successes of new Kingswood centres at Dukeshouse Wood in Northumberland and Colomendy in Wales. Chosen for its excellent location, just minutes from the M20 and Ashford International Eurostar station, Grosvenor Hall will welcome children and teachers from across the south east and internationally.

The centre will operate educational courses tailored directly to teachers’ requirements, fulfilling areas of the curriculum that are difficult to cover in a classroom environment and combining educational modules with activities. The new centre will feature 375 beds for residential stays, 18 classrooms for ICT and language learning, a media centre and 30,000 sq ft of sports facilities. Amongst the other new facilities will be a water sports lake with kayaking and raft building activities, a 22,000 sq ft sports hall, an indoor aquatics centre for swimming and scuba diving, and a high adrenaline ropes park for team building activities.

Dean Saunders, centre director of Kingswood Grosvenor Hall, commented, “ We believe passionately in the value of learning outside the classroom and all of our Kingswood centres are aimed to benefit education in the local area. We shall be taking great care to ensure the new facilities are affordable for local schools, so that teachers and pupils across the south east can take advantage of the facilities on their doorstep. We’re keen to get local people involved in the project and will be organising an open day for local residents to look around the centre early next year. All development works will use local contractors and we anticipate that Grosvenor Hall will create 150 new jobs in the Ashford area.”

Learning Outside The Classroom Quality Badge

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:49:48 +0000

We are pleased to announce that School Travel Service, Equity School Travel, Equity Ski and SkiPlan have all completed their application and have been awarded the Learning Outside The Classroom (LoTC) Quality Badge. This is a recent scheme set up by the Government LoTC initiative which provides for the first time a national accreditation which ensures that learning and safety are assured. Widespread consultation with those involved with children and young people’s services revealed the need for a common scheme which could provide an assurance as to the quality of the educational experiences on offer.