Castle Manor is an academy in Haverhill, Suffolk, where just under half of the students come from low-income families. The school team strongly believe that spending time in the outdoors can help young people develop valuable skills for life and for work, and the Alpkit Foundation has supported previous projects run by the school (including an initiative to offer ASDAN courses to pupils). We caught up with their Learning Outside the Classroom Coordinator, Bex Baldwin, to find out more about their most recent trip!
This term, the Castle Manor staff team returned to Thorpe Woodland, Thetford, to take a group of 10 girls with special learning needs for an overnight residential.
In the evening, the students camped in bell tents and ate tea by the fire with their teachers, during the day they tried their hands at new activites. Over to Bex:
“They had a great time canoeing, climbing and doing archery. They especially loved the climbing which was amazing for a bunch of shy girls with anxiety, they came to life and grins all round!”
The students who took part in the residential had previously attended a council-funded club that no longer runs. As they are about to go into their final year of GCSEs, Bex hopes that the residential has helped them to build on the skills, confidence, resilience and friendships that they developed in the club, as these will surely help them to prepare for the year ahead!
The Alpkit Foundation supports projects that enable people to overcome the obstacles preventing them from Going Nice Places and Doing Good Things. More information on how you can apply for funding.