Brownhills School Ski Trip Torgon 2012

BACKGROUND INFORMATION This year’s ski trip has always been organised as part of a collaboration of other Schools in association with ‘The Ski Company’. The 2012 trip to Torgon will include approximately 120 young people from 8 Schools : Brownhills. Castle Vale, Cockshut Hill, Hamstead Hall CLC, Kingsbury, Ninestiles, Shenley Academy &St John Wall The Birmingham Schools have been travelling together since the mid 1980’s

You could not get a more qualified / experienced team of staff! The Ski party leader is Mr K. Rodgers who is the Assistant Principal at Shenley Academy (BASI qualified & Alpine Ski Leader). Deputy Leader is Mrs S. Russell who has led over 30 school Ski Trips and has recently retired as a Strategic Director at Hamstead Hall CLC. The staff from Brownhills School are Mrs.Geldard-Williams and Miss.Zablocki The 12 members of staff from the other schools are all very experienced and have been involved with their school ski trips for many years. You could not get a more qualified / experienced team of staff!

NURSE We take a qualified nurse with us from Birmingham Children’s Hospital. There is a daily surgery and the nurse is on hand for any eventuality 24 hours a day. The nurse has been on several Birmingham school ski trips.

TRAVEL All students will be travelling on a coach to the resort via channel tunnel. This is a much cheaper option than flying and much less disruption of luggage and belongings.

Preparation Ski lessons will be organised prior to the trip to either a dry ski slope or at The Snowdome in Tamworth prior to the trip. Ideally we would like all students to be able to perform controlled snow plough turns before we get to the resort to ensure our students do not waste valuable time learning the basics when we are there. For students who can already ski and have been before they are welcome to come along and ski recreationally for the duration of the session.

Torgon – The Resort

The Torgon – The Resort Torgon is situated in Les Portes du Soleil, a true winter sports playground offering 650 kilometres of runs, 694 snow cannons, over 300 mountain restaurants, 266 runs, 206 lifts, 12 resorts, 9 snow parks, 2 countries, this is the biggest inter-linked international ski area in the world. Few people could cover such an immense area in a week so our suggested lift pass is the Evasion. This pass gives you use of 60 lifts and over 150kms of runs in the French resorts of Châtel and La Chapelle d'Abondance and the Swiss resorts of Morgins, Champoussin and our home resort of Torgon. The skiing in Torgon and the rest of Portes du Soleil offer a wonderful variety of terrain and something for every level of skier. Even better, it is almost never too busy even at the height of the peak season. The village of Torgon has arguably the most stunning views in the Portes du Soleil - from Lake Geneva to Mont Blanc. Imagine skiing with the blue hues of Lake Geneva below you only to turn and be confronted by Mont Blanc, Europe’s highest mountain... it is possible... in Torgon.

ACCOMODATION The Goldtest Centre is virtually on the ski slopes and has been built specifically for our needs making it one of the best equipped, child friendly centres in Europe. The accommodation has about 140 beds in three chalets and all rooms and apartments have private facilities. A large restaurant, a bean bag filled TV room, a seated lounge area, table tennis, full sized snooker table, pool table, an indoor climbing wall and a sports hall are all available exclusively for our young people. Students will have all of their meals provided including breakfast, lunch (either in the hotel or a packed lunch) and an evening meal. They will also be given extra snacks, drinks and treats to take out with them onto the slopes each day.

Evening Activities & Entertainment There will be organised evening activities every day taking full advantage of the excellent on site facilities which include an indoor climbing wall, sports hall, full sized snooker, pool, and table tennis tables. There is plenty of space to relax, with 2 lounge areas, one of which has a grand piano and a separate and dedicated bean bag filled TV room with large flat screen LCD television and DVD player. Other evening activities will include: Snow Shoe walking Bingo / Quiz The Crystal Maze Challenge Disco / X Factor Torchlit Ski-ing

Risk Assessment All risk assessments have been completed by the Ski Party Leader & Deputy Leader. As the trip is classified as an Educational Visit Overseas and Hazardous due to the nature of the activity the governors, head teacher & educational visits co-ordinator must sign the paperwork. We also have risk assessments for alternative activities for bad weather situations.

Ski Fitting All Ski Equipment will be fitted on arrival and students will be issued a set of Ski’s, Ski Boots, Poles & a helmet. All equipment will stay with the students all week and they will be locked in a dry room at the hotel during the evening.

Helmet fitting

Ski Gear : Goggles / Sun Glasses

Waiting for Instructors Students can ski less than 100 yards from the hotel to the instructor meeting point each morning. They will be accompanied by staff who will wait with the students until their instructor arrives. C:\Documents and Settings\administrator\My Documents\ski-ing\ski pictures\READY TO SKI 3.JPG

Travelator on Nursery slope

Chair lift

Easy run

Intermediate Run

Advanced Run

Mobile Phones Take at your own risk! They will not be tolerated during activity time as they can be a dangerous distraction and they are not allowed to be used for any purpose at the evening meal.

Spending Money Tuck Shop – Chocolates, Sweets & Drinks. Approximately £20 for breakfast 10 Euros for services in France on the way. £10 for breakfast at the services when we get back to England. There is very little to spend money on in the resort. There is a little shop and some students like to purchase a hot drink or chips on the slopes on the odd day if they stop at a mountain lodge. £50 is more than enough money for the trip.

Everybody receives an award C:\Documents and Settings\administrator\My Documents\ski-ing\ski pictures\PRESENTATION.JPG

Paperwork European Health Insurance Application Form or card. Medical Consent Form. Individual passport.