FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
GROUP LEADERS FAQs
A: The price includes accommodation, bedding, all meals, 24 hour duty support, any transport needed during your visit, all specialist equipment, free preview visits for group leaders and free staff places (in line with school visit recommendations for staff ratios for each age group).
The Monday-Friday price also includes a full programme of tutored and structured activities and facilitated evening sessions.
Holiday weeks and weekends can be tutored, and programmes and costs are negotiated directly with each centre.
Non-tutored school holiday weeks and weekends are available at a reduced cost.
The price does not include transport to and from the centre.
A: We offer a wide range of Creative and Adventurous activities across the service. Your visit will be tailored to suit your learning outcomes and activity requirements, and we will be happy to explore options with you and to offer ideas. Please get in touch if you’d like to learn more, or do have a click around this site to find more on activities at each centre.
A: Each centre has a different minimum number requirement, pricing structure and accommodation options. We are committed to providing the best possible options for all groups and are able to adapt our services accordingly. Please contact the centre directly to discuss how we can meet your specific needs and expectations.
A: Each centre has very strict entry control systems and security management and monitoring facilities in place. We provide an on-site duty manager to ensure that the building stays secure throughout the duration of the residential, day and night.
A: All group leaders and particpants are given a full briefing on what to do in the event of a fire on arrival. A fire drill will be conducted on the first day of your visit for all Monday-Friday bookings.
A: Groups stay in dormitories with single beds. All bedding is provided but towels and washing kit are not provided. Floors or accommodation areas can be seperated by gender and there are ample washroom and toilet faciliaites for each area close by.
A: School staff stay in twin and three bedded rooms near to the children’s dormitories, some are ensuite. Staff bedrooms have first aid boxes and tea/coffee making facilities. All staff have access to gender seperated bathrooms seperate from the children.
A: After discussing the visit we can reserve a date for 14 days without obligation. Your course is booked once you return a “Confirmation Booking Form” and we’ll help plan the finer details closer to the course start date. We don’t ask for a deposit with school bookings.
A: School staff are accommodated within the same dormitory corridors/areas as the children and are responsible for the pastoral care of their group. There is a duty manager on site overnight who is on hand and easilly contactable to provide direct support for staff and children at all times.
A: We provide all the food, snacks and drinks that participants will need. Some centres have a small tuck shop available and all centres have a souvenir shop. It is up to you whether you would like to make use of these facilities and school might recommend how much pocket money would be appropriate to bring. We would suggest no more than £10 for a week. Please try to ensure the children bring change not notes.
A: We aim to be as inclusive as possible amd will liaise closely with you prior to your visit with regards to children with special educational needs and disabilities. We will help you in assessing the needs of the individual in the context of the venue and activities, and will endeavour to provide appropriate accommodation and activities. Where the special needs of a child/visitor are severe, we are happy for them to come on an accompanied preview visit with a carer/parent to enable familiarisation with the Centre and ensure resourvces and facilities are suitable. All Centres have dedicated disability accomodation options. Where restrictions apply to some specific activities and spaces, we undertake to make the necessary reasonable adjustments to ensure that everyone can be included in the activities, irrespective of ability.
Centre office phones are available to visiting group leaders 9am - 5pm each day and at other times by arangement. Group leaders are also required to provde alternative means of mainitaing contact such as using a dedicated mobile phone. Please contact the centre if you have any further questions.
A: We would prefer parents to telephone your school emergency contact number rather than attempt to contact their child at the centre directly. Should a parent contact us during office hours we will always ask you to speak to them in the first instance. You must ensure that you have been provided with each parents’ full contact details so that you can contact them in any emergency. Office telephones may be made available to school staff for emergency use where possible..
A: If at all possible and we recommend that groups should bring at least one of their own qualified first aiders and appropriate first aid kit. In addition, we have a number of fully qualified first aid staff, including all overnight duty managers and appropriate resources are available.. They are available to help and support the group first aider should they be required. Some centres have a defibrilator. Please contact the centre if you have any spefic questions about managing 1st aid or for any specific needs.
Each centre has differing kit requirement lists that accord to the activies provided. Schools and group cordinators will often provide this information to visitors in the information pack. For further details please refer to:
Ingestre Hall:
Plas Gwynant:
Edgmiond Hall:
Frank Chapman Centre:
(Hyper link on centre name to specific page/list needed here)
A: All of our site and activities are subject to annual risk assessments, which you are welcome to view during your visit or pre-visit to the centre. We also have a simplified general risk assessment that we can send to you should you require this for planning purposes. You may also wish to carry out your own risk assessment of our facilities during a pre-visit to the centre. If your group is from a Sandwell school or academy then you will not need to undertake a risk assessment for your visit as this has already been done for you by the Council (unless you have opted out of their services). However, all groups will need to undertake their own risk assessments for the journey to and from the centre.
PARENTS FAQs
A: We ensure that our centre is kept secure both day and night, just as you would expect your school buildings to be. We have a secure entry system for visitors so that no one can come into the centre without our knowledge. We provide a duty manager 24/7to ensure that our building and visitor stay secure at all times.
A: We undertake a thorough risk assessment of our premises, site and activities every year to ensure that all our visitors are able to enjoy staying in a safe environment and all visiting groups have a tour of the centre on arrival, which includes a fire drill. All of our staff are DBS checked, as are any contractors who are required to undertake work on our site from time to time. We provide full first aid facilities and have staff who are first aid trained on site at all times.
Each centre has differing kit requirement lists that accord to the activies provided. Schools and group cordinators will often provide this information to visitors in the information pack. For further details please refer to:
Ingestre Hall:
Plas Gwynant:
Edgmiond Hall:
Frank Chapman Centre:
(Hyper link on centre name to specific page/list needed here)
A: We strongly advise that children do not bring mobile phones or other expensive electrical equipment, jewellery etc in case they get lost or damaged. Please ask your child’s teacher for further guidance - the normal school policy would usually apply during the visit.
A: We provide all the food, snacks and drinks that participants will need. Some centres have a small tuck shop available and all centres have a souvenir shop. It is up to you whether you would like to make use of these facilities and school might recommend how much pocket money would be appropriate to bring. We would suggest no more than £10 for a week. Please try to ensure the children bring change not notes.
A: Groups stay in dormitories with single beds. All bedding is provided but towels and washing kit are not provided. Visitors are required to make their own beds up for the duration of their stay. Floors or accommodation areas can be seperated by gender and there are ample and good quality washroom and toilet faciliaites for each area close by.
A: We provide three meals every day, cooked on site by our own catering team, who are used to providing for children with special dietary needs and food allergies. You will be asked by school to provide details of any special dietary requirements in advance of the trip. Please speak to your school/group leader if you haev further questions about catering provision.
A: We would prefer parents to telephone your school emergency contact number rather than attempt to contact their child at the centre directly. Should a parent contact us during office hours we will always ask you to speak to them in the first instance. You must ensure that you have been provided with each parents’ full contact details so that you can contact them in any emergency. Office telephones may be made available to school staff for emergency use where possible..
A: Your child’s teachers stay in the same areas as the children overnight and are required to be always available. Schools and groups will make further appropraite pastoral support as ncessary. Each centre provides an overnight duty manager in separate accommodation each night to support the visiting staff at all times.
A: This is negotiated between your school staff and the centre and depends on the age of the group. School staff will supervise an evening programme of activities and the bedtime routine.
A: We aim to be as inclusive as possible amd will liaise closely with you prior to your visit with regards to children with special educational needs and disabilities. We will help you in assessing the needs of the individual in the context of the venue and activities, and will endeavour to provide appropriate accommodation and activities. Where the special needs of a child/visitor are severe, we are happy for them to come on an accompanied preview visit with a carer/parent to enable familiarisation with the Centre and ensure resourvces and facilities are suitable. All Centres have dedicated disability accomodation options. Where restrictions apply to some specific activities and spaces, we undertake to make the necessary reasonable adjustments to ensure that everyone can be included in the activities, irrespective of ability.
A: Sandwell Residential Education Centres provide exclusive use options for every group unless your school/group has chosen or agreed to share with another school/group. You should have been made aware by your child’s school if your group is sharing with another school. If schools do share they are always of a similar, or the same age. We would expect all children to mix and participate jointly in the activities, recreational times and mealtimes, and would highlight the importance of making new friends as one of the aims of the course. Your school’s teachers will decide on whether or not children from different schools will be sharing dormitories, although it is usual that different schools have different dormitories.
"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