Kingswood – Dearne Valley

North East England, North West England
5-16
Communication Skills, Confidence Building, Geography, Leadership
, Problem Solving, Reward, Science, Team Building
+4 more

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What will students see and do?

Dearne Valley was formerly the Earth Centre, one of the Millennium Commission projects. Situated in beautiful southern Yorkshire, just a 40-minute drive from Sheffield, this site opened its doors as a Kingswood Centre in 2012, following a multi-million pound investment programme.

It is the most environmentally sustainable of Kingswood’s centres and has one of Europe’s largest solar panels as well as its own on-site recycling plant. Outdoor classrooms are spread across 50 acres, delivering interactive learning in grassland, orchard and wooded areas.

Featuring both high- and low-ropes courses with zipwire as well as a range of exciting activities that include fencing, archery and water-based fun, Dearne Valley is a residential trip experience you will remember for some time to come.

How does the trip link to the curriculum?

Kingswood offers a range of educational outdoor adventure programmes that are suitable for all key stages. Integrating a variety of curriculum content within activities and working with teachers to bring subject content to life, its teams also support GCSE and A level field work studies for geography and biology at some centres. (Check which locations by contacting Kingswood directly.)

For key stages 1 and 2, pupils explore and learn about natural landscapes, develop their creative writing and numeracy skills, and improve their verbal reasoning and confidence by taking part in discussions about topics such as conservation and sustainability.

Kingswood has adopted a ‘challenge by choice’ philosophy, incorporating a balance of outdoor adventure experiences matched to the capabilities of the learners.

Activities are designed to be exciting but not too far removed from pupils’ everyday experiences. This is to provide relevance for home and school life, acting as a motivator for personal growth.

Self-reliance, communication skills and teamwork are developed by reflecting upon and sharing information about challenges that require effort and perseverance. This type of strength-based learning allows participants to learn as much from their unsuccessful activities as they do from their successes.

Subjects covered

Communication Skills

Confidence Building

Geography

Leadership

Problem Solving

Reward

Science

Team Building

Teaching resources provided

Kingswood, in partnership with Enrich Education, provide visitors with pre- and post-trip activity packs.

Packs includes a selection of activities that support PE, English, maths, science and geography curricula, taken from the Enrich School Orienteering and Outdoor Learning Digital Hub, which is home to over 200 cross-curricular physical activity plans. Each activity links with one of the six Kingswood curriculum categories (Challenge, Play, Explore, Discover, Social, Reflect). All activities include a teacher’s plan and children’s resource sheets where required.

The packs enable schools to create opportunities to introduce outdoor adventurous activities to children, developing their initial orienteering skills and helping to foster a love for outdoor learning.

In addition to the activity packs, Kingswood offers schools a unique ‘confidence tracker’ tool, created in partnership with insight specialists Spike and with counsel from Dr Alice Jones Bartoli and Professor Justin Dillon, to enable them to evidence and evaluate the success of a trip. This is a fantastic take-home to share with parents or carers after a trip and can also form a wider project on character education or development.