GROUP LEADERS | FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
During activity session times led by our staff, the responsibility for safety and welfare sits with us. We will make key decisions about H&S issues and, wherever possible, work with you to ensure that decisions made are the right ones for the group.
Group leaders should remain with their groups while activities are taking place.
For group bookings, Group Leaders take responsibility for the group during breaks, free play times, on self-led activities, and overnight. You can read more on our Safety & Care page.
We will take all reasonable care of every visitor. We accept no responsibility for illness or injury that occurs during the visit, except in the case of proven negligence on our part. For this purpose we carry Public Liability Insurance.
All SRES practitioners are qualified First Aiders. They are available to support the group first aider, and administer First Aid if required.
Please follow your own Local Authority / Trust policy regarding First Aid. We recommend that wherever possible groups bring at least one qualified first aider and first aid kit with them. This is in part to manage the portion of the visit from school to the centre and back.
Any First Aid administered by our staff will be recorded. Please tell us about any accident, injury, near miss, or concern as soon as possible.
All centres have a defibrillator on site.
We are covered by Sandwell Council's Public Liability Insurance Policy which can be viewed on our Safety & Care page.
We strongly recommend that you take out or ensure that Personal Accident and Cancellation Insurance is in place for all participants, and appropriate to the activities taking place. This should cover circumstances where charges are payable to us or a coach company, such as cancellation because of sickness, adverse weather and so on.
Visit Leaders do not need to obtain copies of risk assessments from us or any outside organisation as they are written for their own purposes. National Guidance states that "Your duty of care is to ensure that any provider you use meets acceptable standards", such as the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge.
All of our centres hold the LOtC Quality Badge.
For Sandwell Schools that opt in to the Educational Visits Advisory Service this guidance is in your "Policy & Procedures for Offsite Activities and Onsite Adventures" document in sections 6, 23 and 30.
However, you will need to provide information about the venue, facilities, activities, who is responsible for supervision, travel, etc. You can download our centre-specific Safety & Risk Overview at Group Leader Downloads which will support your planning. You may also wish to carry out your own risk assessment of our facilities during a pre-visit to the centre.
Full risk assessment documents are available to view at the centres.
For school and group catered residential visits, the price includes:
sole occupancy of the accommodation accommodation (unless you are booking with another group)
subsidy for Sandwell school and academy pupils visiting in term time
free places for Children in Care that are pupils at a Sandwell school or academy
all food, from evening meal on day 1 to lunch on last day
bedding (except at Frank Chapman Centre)
any specialist kit needed during the visit
any transport during the visit
free preview and planning meetings for group leaders
free staff places in line recommended staff ratios for each age group
24 hour pastoral support - we sleep on site.
full day and facilitated evening programmes, from 9:30am to 9pm approx and as appropriate.
The price does not include transport to and from the centre.
There is no deposit, and no VAT to pay. We send a single invoice once the visit has happened.
Holiday weeks and weekends can be tutored or self-led; programmes and costs are arranged directly with each centre.
Once we have received your enquiry and identified provisional dates and prices with you, we can hold those dates for 14 days without obligation if you wish.
If you have not visited before, you are welcome to visit the centre or schedule a call to discuss.
To confirm a booking, we will send a Booking Form - your course is booked once you return it to us.
There is no deposit to pay. We send a single invoice once the visit has happened.
Planning documents are in the Plan Your Visit section, which includes a Checklist for a Successful Visit.
Group leader bedrooms are near to the young people's dormitories for easy overnight supervision. Some are en-suite, and all have single beds... with the exception of one room at Plas Gwynant which has 1 bunk bed.
You also have access to tea and coffee making facilities and a comfortable staff room.
Unless you have chosen to travel with another group, you will have sole occupancy of the accommodation. This makes supervision of your group, overnight arrangements and dining all very simple.
Other groups may be using other parts of the grounds, but will not have any impact on your visit.
For school/group fully tutored residentials yes, we provide 24 hour on-site pastoral support.
For group leaders, yes there is free wifi.
We provide all the food, snacks and drinks that participants will need.
Our centres do have a Fundraising Gift Shop with souvenirs or "tuck" - you can choose to visit these if you wish. If you do, we would suggest bringing no more than £10pp for a week, and preferably in change rather than notes.
Any income generated from the Fundraising Gift Shops is used to reinvest in the centre facilities or resources for the benefit of children.
The souvenirs are different at each centre but normally include branded items like:
water bottles
teddies
notebooks and pens
fridge magnets
pencil sharpener
small toys
This is all available in Group Leader Downloads and categorised by venue. We'll also send the link by email. If there's anything that you can't see, just get in touch with the centre you have booked at.
We have presentations ready to share with parents. They work well on smartphones and can be sent by SMS or email. The links are:
Your LA / Trust will likely have some guidance on ratios. For Sandwell schools the guidance is:
Reception - at least 1:5
Y1 & 2 - at least 1:6
Y3 - at least 1:10
KS2 - at least 1:15
KS3+ at least 1:20
You should plan for effective supervision of the group, and take into account:
a minimum of 2 staff whatever the size of group,
the number of activity groups,
your emergency plan in the event of sickness or the need to escort a pupil home or to a doctor etc,
gender, behaviour management, 1:1 support and individual needs,
the experience or competence of your team,
supervision on the journey to and from your centre,
any arrangements with a school you have chosen to share with.
We will give you free visiting staff places in line with the ratios above + 1, or in line with the number of activity groups +1.
Please take a look at our Additional Needs & Accessibility Overview for centre specifics.
You know your students best; we'll speak with you to see whether we are able to provide an appropriate environment, programme, and experience for your group. You would be most welcome to visit the site to take a look around and learn more.
We have experience of delivering a wide range of activities and learning opportunities to groups with additional needs. These have included physical impairments, sensory impairments, learning difficulties (ADHD, ASD, MLD, SLD, PMLD, and more), challenging behaviour, acquired brain injuries and life limiting illnesses. Our practitioners have received training on how to communicate and encourage personal and social development for all abilities.
If you've not visited before, we'd be happy to visit school to meet parents if we can do. We could also dial in virtually.
There are some resources in Group Leader Downloads and categorised by venue which may be helpful. We also have "Sway" presentations ready to share directly with parents. They work well on smartphones and can be sent by SMS or email. The links are:
This varies from centre to centre, and by duration - it will be detailed on your your booking form so please refer to this.
We provide all food and snacks from evening meal on day 1 to lunch on the final day. Please bring a packed lunch with you for the first day.
There are differences across each centre, and it will vary according to the age of the group, but as a guide you can expect:
Breakfast - cereals, toast, fruit, juice, hot items.
Lunch - sandwiches with a choice of fillings. Pizza is served at some centres
Evening meal - home cooked meal based on things that we know the group will eat. Eg. pasta dishes, jacket potatoes, roast dinners, fish fingers and chips, sausage and mash and so on.
There is plenty of choice and we will speak to group leaders about specific dietary requirements and allergies before the visit. We take account of cultural and religious dietary needs, but we are unable to provide Halal, Kosher (etc) products at the moment. Alternatives will be provided.
We'll make sure there are plenty of cakes, flapjacks and snacks so please don't bring your own! Of course there's fruit available all day too.
Our team are very good at looking after even the fussiest of eaters - they serve around 10,000 children each year so there's not much that they won't be ready for!
There is no bar. Safety and safeguarding of all involved in a visit should be the priority. Group Leaders take responsibility for the group during breaks, free play times, on self-led activities, and overnight, and should be ready to support the children including in an emergency.
If you haven't visited before we are always happy to arrange this. Please contact the centre you're thinking about or are booked at.
We hold the LOtC Quality Badge at all centres so you can be assured about safety standards. You can read on our Safety & Care page.
This is available on the Centre pages. The activities are a vehicle for a learning outcome; we will tailor the programme delivery to suit the context of your group and the conditions. Our Senior Practitioner will be in touch with you prior to the visit.
All of our centres are very different to each other. Contact us and we'll be in touch to learn more about the context of your group and your hopes for a visit. We can make a recommendation based on that.
With differences around the centres, at best we can work in partnership to build in sequence of visits at key moments in the school life of a pupil to address your school plan priorities.
"All centre staff clearly enjoy working at the centre. Their sense of humour, time giving, ability to encourage and their enthusiasm for all pupils to achieve more than they thought they could is an asset to outdoor education”
St John’s Primary School
"For schools seeking a creative partnership where children are empowered to become autonomous, independent learners then I wouldn't hesitate to recommend setting up a partnership with Ingestre”
Assistant Headteacher, Staffordshire