Five key reasons to choose Robinwood
At our Robinwood centres, we believe that we offer the best residential activity courses available for the 7 to 11 year old age group. We get a re-booking rate in excess of 90% and due to the demand for Robinwood courses we have now extended our operating season to run from mid January to mid December each year.
Party leaders tell us many different reasons why they return to Robinwood year after year. There are five key reasons why Robinwood is their first choice, as follows...
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1. The Robinwood Staff Team
In excess of 90% of schools come back to Robinwood year after year. The single most important factor that teachers highlight in returning is the outstanding quality of Robinwood staff teams.
Robinwood staff are friendly, experienced, confident, conscientious, professional and fun. They have a warmth of personality and are sensitive to young people's needs. The staff are able to help young people reach their full potential whilst enjoying a fantastic three days at Robinwood.
The excellent all round staff package we offer results in a huge number of applications for each appointment made. We have a rigorous selection process to ensure we appoint the best people available. We invite shortlisted applicants to selection weekends which include interviews, individual challenges and several different teamwork tasks. We recruit staff based on the qualities we observe, looking for the qualities that we have already identified as the key ones that our very best current staff have. We look carefully at their enthusiasm levels, their support for others, communication skills, the standards they work to and how they relate to children.
Qualifications are obviously important and through our training programme we ensure that all staff hold relevant qualifications before starting work with children, but it is the qualities of each individual that we look to first when recruiting. All appointments are subject to CRB checks and suitable references.
Successful applicants complete a 4 week induction training course before taking charge of any groups of children. They observe an experienced group leader throughout a complete group lead and when they take charge of their first activity group they are observed by senior staff and given one to one feedback on activity sessions they run.
Throughout their first season we observe and give feedback on all aspects of their performance as a group leader, within an ongoing staff development programme. Training and development opportunities are made available to all staff at all times and we have developed a culture within which everyone is continually striving to improve their own performance. Our instructors hold nationally recognised qualifications, where relevant qualifications exist and in many cases hold qualifications at a much higher level than is required for the sessions they deliver at Robinwood.
Our commitment to the training and development of all our staff team resulted in us achieving the "Investors in People" award in 2000, an award which we have retained ever since. We have also been winners of a National Training Award and in 2011 achieved two star recognition as a "Best Company to Work For".
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2. Courses designed exclusively for key stage two
All of our activity sessions are carefully planned in such a way that 7 to 11 year olds can experience challenging adventures that are appropriate to their abilities and their stage of personal and physical development. For example:
Climbing sessions take place on purpose-designed walls that are no more than 8 metres in height, to provide an experience that is challenging, without being overwhelming.
Teamwork activities are brought to life by the imaginative stories that our instructors tell, to capture the interest and enthusiasm of junior age children.
Canoeing takes place on shallow sheltered water, with the bank always within easy reach and a qualified group leader close at hand.
All our energy is directed into offering the best possible experience for key stage two, with courses designed to help children develop and really benefit from their three days away. We select staff who are good with and want to work with this age group.
We run themed activity sessions, including our ever popular Piranha Pool, Quest and Dungeon of Doom sessions. Each of these sessions responds to the natural enthusiasm and imagination of this age group. At the same time as having great fun, the groups are developing teamwork and problem solving skills and finding solutions to the problems posed.
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3. Total supervision
We have Robinwood staff timetabled to look after children throughout their stay, including staff on night duty who remain awake to supervise the children throughout the night. A member of the management team is on duty throughout each 3 day course taking overall charge of activity centre operations and available to you whenever needed.
Your course leader is your main point of contact, supervising and overseeing your whole school group. A group leader takes charge of each activity group with between 9 and 13 children in each group. The average group size is somewhere between 10 and 11 children. The quality of Robinwood group leaders is central to the success of the courses we offer. Group leaders are supported by specialist instructors on certain activity sessions, by additional staff at bedtime and wake-up periods and by night duty staff overnight.
We have staff timetabled throughout to ensure that your stay at Robinwood is as smooth and worry free as possible, but are also very keen to ensure that you have the level of involvement that you want at all times.
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4. We develop children, providing three days that make a very positive difference
At Robinwood we develop children as individuals and as members of a team, with safety, enjoyment and learning as our priorities.
We are focussed on making a really positive difference, for each individual child, within the three days that children spend at Robinwood; a difference that we believe cannot be achieved in this short space of time in a classroom environment. We are frequently told that one of the best things for teachers at Robinwood is seeing children learning and working together in a different environment. This will often result in a few surprises, with some children who are quieter in the classroom succeeding well beyond what had been expected.
Although children only spend a relatively short period of time with us, we are frequently told by teachers about the huge positive difference that Robinwood makes in the development of individual children and in the teamwork throughout the group as a whole.
The benefits of a Robinwood course are many and varied. Teamwork forms a major part of the course, with the children often split into smaller groups to ensure maximum involvement and benefit. Children also learn new skills, gain self confidence and independence, develop their social and interpersonal skills and learn to appreciate the countryside and outdoor opportunities.
Focussing on specific learning objectives:
We have identified three different focus areas as follows, where we can impact on your learners in a positive and effective way and can also compliment the learning you deliver in school:
1. Developing Social Awareness: Our aim is for children to develop and reflect on social awareness, social skills and appreciation of the contributions and achievements of themselves and others.
2. Building confidence and other personal qualities: Our aim is for children to gain and reflect on their personal confidence and self esteem through taking on challenges and achieving success.
3. Teamwork and related key skills: Our aim is for children to develop and reflect on their teamwork, communication, problem solving and leadership skills.
Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge
All three Robinwood Centres hold the Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) Quality Badge. This is a national accreditation combining the essential elements of provision, learning and safety, into one easily recognisable and trusted Quality Badge for all types of Learning Outside the Classroom.
Essentials for Learning and Life:
Whatever theme you choose to focus on, three days at Robinwood also provides a wonderful opportunity for children to develop two key areas of National Curriculum Essentials for Learning:
Personal and emotional skills: Children take responsibility for their own learning and show initiative, perseverance and a commitment to self-improvement. They recognise that achievement builds self confidence and resilience, enabling them to deal positively with praise and constructive criticism.</p>
Social Skills: Children develop the skills to work well with other people. They are responsible and adaptable and anticipate others' views and feelings. They appreciate the value of rules for working together and play an active part in group and classroom activities.
Every Child Matters Outcomes:
"be healthy", "stay safe", "enjoy and achieve", "make a positive contribution"
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5. We offer the ultimate three day activity programme
Three full days away from home is generally enough for most 7 to 11 year olds. Since our first course in 1994 we have consulted closely with thousands of teachers and the feedback we have received tells us that a busy three day programme works best. Children have really busy days at Robinwood with activities starting at 9 a.m. and finishing at 9 p.m. In a 3 day course we typically pack in 14 different activity sessions, which is more than many providers manage in a 5 day course.
Activity sessions generally last for around an hour and a quarter, although it does depend to some extent on the activity, with extended periods generally allocated for sessions like stream walk which takes place a short distance from the activity centre and typically needs a little more time.
Keeping sessions relatively short not only allows us to fit more in but also ensures that children are much more focussed and engaged throughout each session than they would typically be if we spent the whole morning on one activity and the whole afternoon on another.
The programme we offer now is based on feedback from literally thousands of teachers; we offer the activity sessions that have been graded the best. The activities that work the best for this age group. The ones that challenge children at the right level and give them the chance to achieve and develop over their time at Robinwood. We also continue to develop and improve these activity sessions wherever we can.
We are also conscious of the importance of providing the right balance within the activity programme including a range of adventure activities, themed problem solving sessions, watersports sessions, activities that will challenge, activities that will develop teamwork, activities that will stimulate the imagination and activities that present fantastic learning opportunities in a way that goes beyond what can be offered in a classroom environment.
We have 18 outstanding activity sessions in total as described on the following pages; each one a high quality session. Although most are offered at all Robinwood centres, there are some which only operate at selected centres.
Children loved it ! Staff were amazing and the children were well looked after. Can't wait for next year !
St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, Prescot
