Teacher Weekend
Every year we host a free Teacher Weekend here in Dorset. It’s a great chance for teachers experience what we’re all about whilst having some well-deserved downtime in the Great Outdoors.
On a previous weekend, 27 teachers joined us from all over the UK, for two days of adventure. We were blessed with fantastic sunshine, which set the tone for a fantastic 36 hours on the Jurassic Coast.
The weekend kicked off at the accommodation. Everyone arrived to tea, coffee and pastries before being allocated a comfy room for the weekend.
Once settled, we headed outside to get to know each other. Activities Manager, Paul, put the teachers through their paces on some of our team building activities including Gutterball, Tangrams and Team Skis. It’s safe to say the competitive spirit was not lacking!
After fuelling up on a typical tasty school trip packed lunch, we got kitted up into wetsuits and took the short 6-minute walk to the beach. Bella and Tom, our lovely instructors, hosted a hilarious Jumbo SUP session; featuring lots of games including a giant slip & slide. With the ice well and truly broken, we turned our hands to raft-building. With three rafts successfully built & paddled, it was back to The Swanage Centre for hot showers.
Before dinner, we gave the teachers a tour of all the amazing facilities at the accommodation, including the indoor pool and social spaces. After a quick Q&A session about our school trips, the teachers helped themselves to a hearty hot dinner, typical of our schools trip meals. Plenty of choice was on offer, with fish, meat and vegetarian options to suit everyone’s tastes. The evening was rounded off with a trip to a proper local pub for a few drinks and some of the group went on to explore what Swanage nightlife has to offer.
Sunday morning began with a hot breakfast, before heading out to our secluded woodland for an epic morning of bushcraft. Sophie and Alex introduced the group to a range of survival skill activities including archery, axe-throwing and fire-lighting. For those that were interested, Sophie lead a wild game workshop, which included instructions on how to pluck and prepare the partridge meat. This was later made into a stew for everyone to enjoy.
We finished off with lunch around the toasty campfire before everyone said their goodbyes and headed home. We’d like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to everyone that attended; you made it such a fun weekend – we’re so lucky to call this work!
Find out more about our indoor residential school trips HERE & our glamping school trips HERE.
We have some availability left in 2024, including a special offer for school trips in September so please do get in touch via. [email protected] or 01929 423 031 if you are interested!
If you are a teacher, or know a teacher who would be interested in joining us on our next Teacher Weekend, please email [email protected]
21 October 2019 by Rosie Tanner
