School Journeys and Residentials

In our Federation Schools we recognise the importance of building in opportunities for the children to take trips, make visits and have opportunities for fieldwork and other out of classroom experiences of learning.

We are invested in outdoor learning and the development of Forest School skills on our own school site, fully availing of the space, woodland and field we have at our disposal on the Bushey Manor Site.  Children from the Infant school, particularly our children in Year 2, have opportunities to make visits to Bushey Manor to develop their outdoor learning skills, and to familiarise them with the surroundings and space at the junior school, prior to their transition.

Our curriculum design ensures that opportunities for experiential learning exist for our children, and the situation of a few years ago when no class had ever used the train on our door step to readily avail of free transport and trips to London, are now a dim, distant (and painful) memory.  Classes in our junior school regularly visit museums and galleries in London to enhance their curriculum learning.

Residentials:

We believe in growing the independence and confidence of our children through residential trips.  There is a sequence and a plan to this that started many years ago at Bushey Manor through the vision of a previous headteaacher, Mr McCready, and which has now become embedded in the culture of the school.

In Year 3

All children spend a night camping on the school grounds as part of Camp Bushey.   The school has invested in quality four man tents and ground sheets, so that children can camp in comfort with their friends following an evening of fun, campfire songs and organised activities at school.  This is often the first time our children have spent a night away from their parents and families, and doing so with adults and children they know well and within surroundings that are familiar to them, helps our children to reach this milestone and indeed gives many a confidence to then take part in cubs and brownie activities too.

In Year 4

Our children now graduate to two nights at an Outdoor Adventure Centre, building upon the Forest School activities they are introduced to within our own school curriculum, but also learning skills linked to fieldwork, orienteering and team work.   Recently, this has taken place at 'Walton Firs Outdoor Education Centre' in Surrey and our children always come back with a great sense of achievement and increased independence from this experience.

In Year 5

In this year, children undertake the 'main' residential experience - a full five day trip (four nights) to a Youth Hostel in Snowdonia. Our teachers lead the activities and learning, which are strongly linked to our Geography and Science Curriculum and enable children to have tangible examples and real experiences to reference when they later study mountains and soils.  

In Year 6

In the final year of school, we give our children a residential trip to cement their relationships as they come to the end of their primary journey and look forward to moving to the many different secondary schools which our children graduate to.  In recent years we have made this trip a two night residential as it is focused on 'adventure' experiences and fun, rather than direct learning.  We have also tried to be mindful of the cost implications for families, particularly after the expense of the Snowdonia trip in the previous  year.