Summary of the project
Pendarren Outdoor Activities Centre is a residential house in South Wales fully equipped and staffed to run Activities Weekends for all ages. Two weekend residentials were booked accommodating 35 Year students, 8 Year 10 students and 4 staff on each of the weekends. The first residential was offered to girls only and the second to boys only. Swanlea school’s intake is 75% boys and 25% girls. Most of our students are Bengali muslims. In the past it has been difficult to encourage girls to attend residentials for cultural and religious reasons. Therefore the decision was taken to offer a girls only, female staffed weekend. The large uptake of this offer justifies the decision. The activities covered over both weekends were: canoeing, rock climbing, mountain walking, orienteering and line walking. It was decided that the Year 10 SPARC (Swanlea Students Are Resolving Conflict) students would also attend the weekend to assist in the smooth running of the programme and to enable them to experience the exercise of responsibility this would entail. The SPARC students in Swanlea School are selected on the basis of their positive role modelling and this played a large part in their presence over both weekends.
Reasoning behind the activity, including business context
The vast majority of Swanlea students rarely visit outside of their immediate area (Whitechapel) let alone the beautiful countryside of South Wales. Fewer still would have had the opportunity to engage in the activities Pendarren were able to offer. All of the activities offered require team building, team work, problem solving, learning new skills, awareness of others, risk evaluation and limitation, and forward planning. These skills play an essential part in developing Enterprise provision at Swanlea School and links in well with the Merrill Lynch Enterprise and Entrepreneurship programme.
Although Pendarren is administered by Haringey Borough in London it clearly offers activities which are part of the Service Sector of Wales’ tourist economy. Engagement in the activities heightened the students’ awareness of the commercial context of the provision of such activities as well as the provision of accommodation and catering facilities.
On both weekends a 50 seater coach picked up Swanlea students and staff at 1.30pm. A hot evening meal was prepared and was waiting for our arrival at Pendarren House. All the Health and Safety aspects of the weekend were explained, rooms allocated, rules discussed and programme explained. Each weekend group was subdivided into four equal sized groups.
Planning
Forward planning was essential not least because Pendarren House is hugely popular and needed to be booked 12 months in advance. It was at this early stage that the activities were agreed. Coaches were booked and staff availability checked. Please see attached permission letters, centre information, medical details proformae and what to bring list. Prizes were bought to award to students.
Execution
For each of the four students groups a member of Swanlea Staff was attached. Each group was led by a Pendarren instructor who was qualified in all areas of the activities programme. The necessary clothing and equipment for each student was collected from the kit store and returned at the end of the activity.
Canoeing
This entailed five Canadian Canoes (for two people). The canoes were transferred from their trailer onto the canal. Students were shown how to name the parts of and use a paddle. Once in the canoes students were then instructed upon how to manouvre and power the canoe. Various activities involving the canoe/and/or paddles were carried out dependanct upon the instructor. The sessions ended with a short race.
Mountain Walking
The mountain which all the students walked up is called Sugar Loaf Mountain which is a ten minute drive away via minibus. Students were shown its position on a map and the countours and features of the map were explained. Each small group was divided into two and, taking two different routes up the mountain they met at the top. Groups then took the other group’s route back down.
Rock Climbing
This took place on the artificial wall face built outside the Activities Centre and an indoor rock wall. Students were taught how to tie their rope onto a belay, how to give the necessary climbing commands and how to answer them, how to belay their partner safely up the face. On the indoor wall students were able to practise traverse climbs. The session ended with a ‘musical climbing’ competition (when the music stops you must be off the ground).
Orienteering
Students in their groups were given a map including a number of controls and a card punch required to mark each card. The winning team was the team who gathered the most controls within the specified time.
Line Walk
The whole group was split into two smaller groups, blindfolded and asked to follow a rope line through a wood. Students had to support each other through touch and voice to negotiate the line. This disorienting activity taught the students the need for clear, supportive and accurate communication, trust and patience.
Student Testimonies
Nazia Rob 8E
Our weekend at Pendarren was great. We had loads of fun. We went canoeing and
rock climbing, we even climbed a mountain called ‘Sugar Loaf’,but
my favourite was canoeing and the ‘night line’ where we had to follow
a rope blindfolded. It was a great trip,one of the best that I’m sure
I’ll never forget.
Munim 8C
It was fun when we went to Wales. The activities were fun. The view around the
house was nice. The activities I likes the most were canoeing and rock climbing.
Mashud Ali 8C
The trip to Pendarren was exciting and active. The weather was fine and the
scenery was amazing. We did many activities such as canoeing and rock climbing.
My favourite was the walk up Sugar Loaf mountain.
Final Evaluation
The project was a huge success. All the participants thoroughly enjoyed all
of the activities and some of them had never ventured outside of their local
environment before. There behaviour was impeccable and a very positive relationship
has now been established between Pendarren and Swanlea School. All of the students
made new friends amongst students from different tutor groups who they wouldn’t
normally mix with. The girls were given an opportunity that they do not normally
receive and took part in activities they would not normally be expected to engage
in. The skills that they acquired have already been used in classroom and school
settings such as, team building, problem solving and awareness of others. Both
the girls and the boys made excellent presentations about the weekends to the
rest of the year group thus developing their confidence in speaking/presenting
to a large audience. Many photographs and video clips were made of the activities
that have been on display and will now form part of an archive for the year
group. The planning was thorough and fail purposeful and provides a model for
any future similar projects.