What is a 'Non-Residential'?
Non-Residentials are activity programmes run as day programmes without overnight stays. They bear all the hallmarks and benefits of a traditional outdoor activity residential but perfect where overnight stays are not possible or travel and time are limited.
AE delivered non-residential activity days to 240 young people aged 5 - 12 years in 2020, providing a safe space for young people to immerse themselves in nature with their peers, develop skills, undertake learning, get adventurous on a range of outdoor activities and, above all, have fun.
'Non-Residentials' can extend into the evening to include eating an evening meal together and/or campfire and circle time. They are ideal for:
- KS1 and KS2 class activities;
- Y6 Residential weeks;
- Y6 to Y7 transition camps;
- Y7 welcome to new school;
- Curriculum enhancement weeks;
- Combining different adventurous activities;
- General fun with peers!
Tailoring your programme
Whether you would like to keep to normal school hours or are keen to include twilight sessions, the format is tailored to your group and aims to ensure maximum benefit.
Programme Managers discuss the aims and requirements that you have and use this as a skeleton to plan sessions and content. Our team includes both Primary and Secondary qualified teachers (QTS) and Forest School practitioners as well as experienced outdoor instructors and we work collaboratively with you to make sure that plans integrate your school’s curriculum and ethos as needed.
Call to chat through programme options: 01433 651449.jpeg)
Outdoor activities
AE base is in the heart of the Peak District in Hathersage, within easy reach of so many schools. Whether you're located in Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, Manchester, Rotherham, Barnsley or the Stockport area, endless outdoor adventurous activity options are on the doorstep as part of a day trip and we are lucky to be well placed to know a wide range of locations well.
Great adventurous activities to combine as part of non-residential activity days include:
- Rock climbing;
- Abseiling;
- Weaselling (a fun activity, a bit like overground caving and perfect for groups of peers);
- Orienteering and treasure hunt style challenges;
- Team walks to easy Peak District summits or plane crash sites;
- Getting wet exploring streams and rivers.
All activities are led by well qualified, experienced outdoor instructors. These days are great to link together to give an adventure activity non-residential week or to combine with different types of activities on different days.
Adventures in nature
See your pupils get stuck into nature with a set of adventures across one or more days. With experienced outdoor instructors and forest school practitioners, we have a range of exciting activities that can be combined with elements of outdoor adventurous activities, bushcraft, health and well-being themes and curriculum areas (if required) to give engaging and exciting days in the natural world:
- Creative campfires: Learn how to gather fire wood and use it to independently build and light your own fire – pupils progressively take the lead;
- Campfire cooking: prepare food and use the campfire to prepare warm drinks and and a range of other tasty, pupil-cooked treats;
- Forest art: gather natural materials from the forest floor and combine with craft materials and a dose of imagination to learn about the natural environment while getting creative;
- Crafty creatures: collect materials from the forest floor to design and create creatures based on different themes. Construct animal homes, shelters, bug hotels by learning to use different tools safely under supervision;
- Super shelters: work in teams to use natural materials and those from our den building kits to make a shelter for your team – will your team stay dry inside when the watering can comes out to put it to the test?;
- Clay creations: create faces, pots and sculptures in the forest;
- Brilliant bushcraft: explore different tools and learn practical skills with our instructors;
- Nature yoga: fun and interactive sessions to engage body and mind with skills that can be taken back into school;
- Campfire circle / circle time: a feature of all activity days where campfires are possible. Sessions or stories around the campfire bringing groups together - a real highlight for many.
Undertaking awards
Sessions or days of your non-residential can be dedicated towards or include delivery of different awards. Some awards can be delivered in their entirety across the space of a 5-day programme or elements of other awards could be included on different days. For example:
- Junior first aid: undertake a first aid certificate with practical, hands-on scenarios in the outdoors - a fun and engaging way to learn skills for life;
- Outdoor Discovery Award: complete entire awards across a non-residential programme and include curriculum enhancement along the way;
- Junior Award Scheme for Schools (JASS): complete hours for sections of the award towards sectional certificates;
- John Muir Discovery Award: have a conservation theme across a 5-day non-residential programme and complete the entire award including adventurous activities and adventures in nature as well as curriculum enhancement along the way.
Curriculum enhancement
One or more days of a non-residential can focus on particular topics to cover specific areas of the curriculum (e.g. Science based) or focus on personal development (e.g. delivering a youth award). All sessions have strong cross-curriculum links built in to maximise learning, for example:
- 'Animals and their habitat' day: also has a strong maths focus including counting, measuring and recording data;
- 'Amazing Emotions' session: combines personal development and health and well-being activities with literacy and creative arts themes.
Our team includes qualified teachers (primary and secondary QTS), forest school practitioners and experienced outdoor instructors - this gives us a great base of outdoor expertise to draw on in designing interactive, hands-on and engaging sessions that are differentiated where needed and adapted to your requirements and the particular needs of your students.
Core themes and aims
These will depend in part on your aims and chosen location. All programmes incorporate the following:
- Themes / activities to incorporate any national curriculum elements at the appropriate key stage;
- Personal development opportunities for each individual – teamwork, leadership, peer support, problem solving, pupil-led activity opportunities;
- Fun - we can't emphasise the importance of this in the learning and engagement process enough;
- Camp fire or circle time for the latter part of each day to provide opportunities for reflection, st
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Where? Venues
Non-Residentials can be run from a wide range of venues depending on what you would like to include on a given day. We are lucky to be based in the heart of the Peak District and can deliver adventurous activities or outdoor learning at a wide range of great locations that suit how far you would like to travel.
If you have suitable grounds or outdoor space at school we can deliver programmes on site and visit you pre-programme to ensure that all aspects of the programme are fully planned for.
Adventures in nature, curriculum based learning and different awards can be delivered at off-site venues close to school and we select venues for this based on your needs. We can often base great activities from venues close to school with minimal travel time to/from school - some can even be accessed from school on foot! All venues generally feature plenty of open space, wooded areas that offer good scope for different bushcraft and ‘forest school’ style activities, structures for shelter in case of adverse weather and good toilet / hygiene facilities in appropriate quantity for your group size.
All Risk Management information is provided as part of your comprehensive School Information Pack in advance of the programme.
Stress-free organisation
We recognise that planning a residential can often feel daunting in terms of your time and paperwork as a teacher - particularly when you already have a lot of demands on your time.
From working with a wide variety of schools and groups over many years, we have developed a planning strategy that is designed to make the process stress-free for teachers. This includes a comprehensive set of paperwork to pre-emptively cover all the items that your school, EVC, SLT or headteacher might ask for in order to approve the trip.
Before, during and after, your Programme Manager is on hand to answer questions and provide support. We have online Consent Form and paperwork submission so that parents can submit this directly to us, cutting out the need for you to do this and questions can be directed to us from parents too.
Cost and booking
Cost and providing real value for money is incredibly important to us. We work hard to ensure that the residential represents value for money and is affordable to your pupils. Our not-for-profit status allows us to offer bursaries where pupils may not otherwise be able to take part for financial reasons.
We operate a transparent pricing policy so that you know exactly how much the programme will cost from the start - there are no hidden extras.
Non-Residential programmes start from £35.00 per person, per day based on group size, activities, venue and length of programme. Different options are discussed and selected to match your requirements.
While COVID-19 still might present issues, our COVID-19 Secure Booking policy protects your booking and monies paid in case changes need to be made to your programme.
Call to chat through programme options: 01433 651449