Gilwell Park

1. Gilwell Park 15th – 16th June 2017.

2. The Year 6 pupils will be making their residential visit to Gilwell Park from: Thurs 15th – Fri 16th June 2017

3. Purpose of the Trip • To encourage teambuilding skills and problem solving • To give the pupils an opportunity to take part in a range of outdoor and adventurous activities in a safe and controlled environment • To give them an opportunity to be together for 2 days in a contrasting environment as they come to the end of their time at St Joseph’s • To learn new skills which they can take with them to secondary school

4. Why Gilwell? • Gilwell is the world headquarters for the Scout Association and has a long history of providing opportunities for outdoor education • It is relatively close to the school so there is minimal travelling time which allows more time on site • It is better value for money in a time of budget constraints • Kingswood where we had been going since 2002 had become more expensive, took around 4 hours to get to and was no longer value for money

5. Programme for the visit: These times are approximate and the programme may be changed due to things such as wet weather (there are indoor facilities at Gilwell)

6. Thursday 15th • Leave school at approximately 9:30am on Thursday 15th June, arrive at Gilwell around 10:15am • Play some games with the children at Gilwell before they “Make camp” at 12:00pm and meet the staff who will lead them in a range of activities • Site tour and safety talk • Lunch at 12:30pm • Divided into groups and spend the afternoon taking part in the Outdoor Adventure programme rotating around different activities e.g. archery, aerial trek, problem solving, climbing

7. Evening meal and then more activities till 7:30pm • St Joseph’s staff take over and we will do some evening games with the pupils, possibly campfire • Come together at around 10:00pm • Get ready for bed, wash and make sure tents are prepared for the evening • Lights out at 11:00pm

8. Friday 16th • Breakfast at 8:00am • More activities with the Gilwell staff in the morning • Lunch at 12:00pm • Pack up and prepare for journey home • Play more games with the children before leaving Gilwell at 2:00pm return to school at around 2:45pm

9. Sleeping arrangements and facilities at Gilwell: • The children will sleep in tents of 6 (separate boys and girls) in the “Tent Village” • The tents are already erected when we get there so the children do not need to put them up on arrival • There are nearby toilets and wash areas for the children • The adults will also be in the “Patrol Tents” and will be nearby in case of emergency or sickness in the night

10. The children will have 3 meals at Gilwell • Although the children are sleeping in tents in a campsite, they are in a secure environment and Gilwell Park is designed to be secure and prevent members of the public entering. You have to enter and leave Gilwell by the main entrance. There is someone on duty 24 hours a day • All the Gilwell staff are trained to lead their activity and have DBS checks to work with young children • The pupils will be accompanied by the Year 6 staff plus Mr Alexander and one other member of staff who will all remain with the children throughout the visit. Other members of staff from school may join us in the evening

11. Kit list: • We will send out a detailed kit list nearer the time but as a rough guide the children will need the following items:

12. Sleeping bag • At least one complete change of clothes • Clothes for different weather conditions e.g. for warm weather and also for rain • Even if it is warm during the day it will probably be cold at night so warm tops to put over their night things (remember they will be sleeping in tents which may be new experience for many if not most of the children) • Strong footwear • Old clothes • Wash things, towels • Bag for dirty wet clothes • They should bring as small a bag as possible, not suitcases or large holdalls as space is limited in the tents

13. Medication: • We will ask you to complete an emergency and medical information form about 2 weeks before the visit (so that it is up to date). All medication should be in named and sealed bags and given to the staff in school before we leave on the first morning.

14. Cost: • We are charging £70 for the trip to Gilwell in June. This is made up of the cost of hiring the tents and facilities at Gilwell, the use of the Gilwell staff to lead the activities, the meals at Gilwell and the cost of the coach to take the children to and from the site. Insurance is covered by the school’s own insurance policy. • While this is still a significant amount of money, it compares favourably to what we would have to charge for the traditional visit to Norfolk. In 2015 this cost £170 and because it is no longer subsidised it would be closer to £200 this year. • The school has already paid the deposit to Gilwell as our contribution towards the overall cost.

21. Next step: • If you are happy for your child to go on the trip to Gilwell, you now need to go onto the School Shop and authorise the trip. The letter of authorisation will be out next week. Payments can be made from when the letter is on the School Shop. We would prefer the payment to be made as a single sum but if it would be easier to pay in smaller instalments then you can do that. We will keep a record of all payments made. We would ask that all payments are made by Friday 26th May (3 weeks before the trip).