Field Trips and the Outdoor Classroom

Field Trips and the Outdoor Classroom

Giving pupils wide opportunities to extend their learning outside the classroom brings subjects alive, fires curiosity, develops a sense of adventure and builds team spirit and resilience.

The School offers an exceptional range of visits and expeditions which begin as early as the nursery. All pupils take part in termly class expedition days and many other opportunities are taken by subject departments using the school grounds, local area and further afield throughout the year. Day trips include visits to museums, galleries and sites of interest and visits to castles, theatres, concerts and art workshops among others.  London, Oxford and Bath are easily accessible to the School.

Some subject departments also organise longer residential trips. All pupils in Yr7 take part in a trip to France which includes an intensive spoken language course at a private chateau and visits to Normandy combining history and geography.  In year 8, all pupils take part in a field studies expedition to Slapton where the plants and animals of rock pools and coastal geography are studied and from Yr 6 to 8 all pupils visit the School’s field studies centre in the Exmoor National Park to study physical geography and sustainability.

Aside from academic expeditions, pupils take part in adventure training using the School‘s estate for camping and bush-craft weekends. Popular additional trips to Wales and Exmoor include boarders’ weekends with trout fishing on the river Barle and exciting moorland riding expeditions with the pupils own and school ponies.

The sports department also organises regular tours principally within the UK and Europe in the major sports.

The cost of these is carefully managed so as to be affordable for parents and to be inclusive of all pupils wishing to take part.

Above all, these trips are great fun for everyone involved and form lasting and happy memories.