Year 4 Residential Buckden 19th to 21st April 2017

Location

Buckden Village

Buckden House Outdoor Education Centre The centre has been open for over 30 years. It has fully qualified and experienced staff.

Who is going? Mrs Taylor and Mr Deveney are the main leaders. Mrs Nicholls, Mrs Bindon, Mrs Gibson, Mrs Jackson and Mr Edmands will also be going, in addition to Mrs Rose, one of our School Governors.

Setting off on Wednesday morning 7.45 am Children arrive at main school entrance. Take cases/bags to hall. Keep hand luggage with child. Children need packed lunch in bag/box (named) with refillable (named) water bottle. 8.00 am Mr Deveney, Mr Edmands supervise loading of coach in service car park. 8.30am Depart for Buckden!

Medicines and ‘Treats’ At school in Mrs Taylor’s classroom: Mrs Bindon and Mrs Gibson will collect all medicines and list these. We need written details (child’s name, dosage) on each item. Mrs Jackson and Mrs Rose will collect the 5 ‘sweet treats’ for each child. These should be wrapped chocolate bars/sweet bags in individual sizes. We will put these into a bag with your child’s name, and hand them out to children during the visit. No food can be kept, or eaten, in their rooms. Mrs Nicholls will collect the £4 max spending money for each child. Please ensure this is clearly labelled with the child's name in a purse/wallet or plastic bag.

Keeping in touch We will contact school when we have arrived at Buckden House, and a text message will be sent out to parents (make sure we have most recent contact details in the office). We’ll also let you know that all is well after the first night away! On the way home, we will contact school so they can text you with our approximate return time. In an emergency you can contact Mr Durkan (details on Parental Consent Form E1). In the event of a child needing to leave early, due to illness for example, we will consult with school and parents about the return plan.

Accommodation and security There are lounge areas and indoor education rooms within the Annexe building and Main House. The children's bedrooms are all in the main house with staff rooms nearby. Named school staff will be on duty in the evening and on call through the night. There will be a safety and emergency procedures talk soon after arrival. The building is secured with coded keypads on all entrances.

Bedrooms The children's bedrooms are all in the main house, sorted into girls and boys (separate floors). No food is allowed in the bedrooms. Bedrooms have bunk beds and a small sink. Some have been updated with shower ‘pods’ too. The toilets are on the same corridor as the bedrooms. Staff rooms are mainly on the same corridors as pupil accommodation. Additional staff rooms are on the ground floor.

The first morning! 7.30am Getting up and dressed! 8.00am Breakfast in dining room. 9.00am Morning briefing to say what extras are needed for each group.

Groups and activities On site team building activities. There will be 4 main groups rotating round the following daytime activities: On site team building activities. Buckden village study. Deer Park photo trail walk. Dry gill scrambling walk (this will not take place in wet weather).

The Annexe For some activities, the children may need waterproof clothing: these are stored in the Annexe part of the building. There is also a kit storage area, clothes drying room and showers within the Annexe. Children will normally enter and leave the centre through the Annexe.

Meals Wednesday packed lunch is the only meal you need to provide. We will eat this when we arrive at Buckden House. You already have a list of the food choices. All the food is prepared on site by chef Stuart and his team. The children eat all meals in group dining rooms in the main house.

Evening learning There will be several evening activities, including: National Trust Talk Team Challenges Garden games in fine weather All evening activities will take place on-site.

Time for bed! 8.30pm Chill out time! Children will have supper (drinks and biscuits). 9.00pm Toilets, teeth and bedtime. 9.30pm Lights out! Children will be made aware of the named staff on duty each evening and through the night (just in case!) We also put labels on the duty staff doors to avoid confusion.

Kit List: Labelled and Scruffy! You already have a detailed kit list. All items need to be labelled with child’s name. Scruffy clothes are best as they can get dirty during the activities. Outdoor clothing: Buckden House provide waterproofs and walking boots.

Extra kit Footwear: needs to be suitable for walking activities. Trainers or sensible slippers for indoors (there are lots of stairs). Reading book, note pad and/or puzzle book for evening chill out time. Small bag (pump bag or rucksack) to carry things on the coach and during the day.

Please don’t send… Anything expensive or precious. Large bags of chocolate or sweets other than the 5 small ‘sweet treats’. Mobile phones (no signal anyway). Electronic games or i-pads. Children will be responsible for all their own items (name labels appreciated).

Return to Rothwell! Children will re-pack their own bags. We plan to set off from Buckden at 1.30pm on Friday. We should return to Rothwell Primary for about 3.30pm. You will be contacted by text with a more accurate return time when we are on our journey.

Any questions?