News

 

On this page, we have information on:
School Weekends Discounts
Camping
Clients
News Letter

 

News Letter
Winter 2009/2010 - What's new at Brenscombe?

Facilties

• Camping
  • The full board camping in our new Bell tents went very well this season with many groups enjoying the facilities. We will continue to offer this facility next year for groups of up to 40 people sleeping on camp beds with up to 7 per tent.
• Redecoration
  • The team has been busy redecorating the Centre with the domestic team giving the accommodation a spruce up and Roj stripping, cleaning and repainting the kitchen. We have also had a new drainage system installed under the driveway so we don’t have to wade through the courtyard anymore.
• Dining Room
  • Having listened to clients’ feedback, the dining room now has sixteen new benches replacing the chairs. This will give a bit more room between tables. We also have plastic beakers rather than glasses for use by children.

Activities

• Powerfan
  • As many of you will have seen, we had our new Powerfan installed at the ropes course in May. It is a 50ft high simulated parachute jump that has proved to be very popular with many groups. As this is an expensive capital item we can include this in with our normal ropes course session for an additional £5 per person. It can also be provided as a stand alone activity or as an ‘Adrenaline Package’ with the zip wire.
• Bushcraft Courses
  • This year we will be expanding our popular Bushcraft courses by introducing a two day survival course. The course will include; fire lighting methods, shelter building, knife skills, trapping and snaring, food for free, rescue scenarios, campfire cooking including skinning (optional) and cooking rabbits or pheasants, navigating by the stars and a night out in improvised shelters. Contact us for more details.
• Summer Holiday Adventure days - Non residential day activities for individuals rather than groups
  • The summer adventure days were a great hit last year, with numbers up a lot from previous years. We will offer these again this year with additional dates and activities. For more information click here.
• Kayaking and Canoeing Courses
  • This year we will be offering more British Canoe Union courses for groups.  Paddlepower awards (levels 1-12) for 10 to 15 year olds, and star awards (1-3*) for 14+. These are nationally recognised awards that come with a certificate at the end of the course. For more information click here

Staff

 

• Staff Promotions
  • Now that John and Tomo have moved on, there has been a re-shuffle of staff at the centre. Jeff has now moved into the Deputy Manager Role, Phil is the Senior Instructor and Liz is the Staff Development Manager.
• Summer 2010
  • For the this season we have a few returnees from the previous years, Ann-Marie, Alex, Sophie, Alice & Aaron. With new instructors to the Brenscombe team consisting of Tom, Trystan, Gary, Hannah & Penny.
• Clover & Molly
• The two latest arrivals to the Centre this winter are puppies Clover (black Labrador) and Molly (black Labrador Springer cross) these little tearaways can be seen chasing and playing with each other around the Centre so watch under your feet!! Milo the older chocolate Labrador tolerates them with much patience.
 

 

 

New Developments

• National Curriculum

  • This year we have can offer to cover several key skills from the National Curriculum into our activities in order to provide assistance to schools with delivery of certain aspects of the curriculum in a very beneficial outdoor setting.

  "Every young person should experience the world beyond the classroom as an essential part of learning and personal development, whatever their age, ability or circumstance".

  Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto

  All courses at Brenscombe will be highly effective at developing four of the six key skills identified in the National Curriculum. These are; working with others, problem solving, communication and improving learning and performance.

  To highlight how sessions at Brenscombe can support and deliver specific elements of the National Curriculum we have linked them directly to their relevant QCA schemes of work. This information is available on request; please contact the office if you require a copy or liaise with Liz on training@brenscombeoutdoor.co.uk

  If you are looking to focus on any particular aspect of the curriculum, please advise us at the time of booking to enable us to tailor the sessions to your exact requirements.

 

 

• INSTRUCTOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

  • November 2010 to March 2011

   “A 16 week training and development course based at our superbly located Centre on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. Designed to kick start your career in the Outdoor Industry”.

  Please call the Centre on 01929 481222 for further details.

 

 

2009 School Weekend Residentials
Due to the over subscription of our residential weeks for schools during the summer, we are now offering long weekend residentials from 2 days to 4 days for groups. Dates currently available for weekend school trips are: 24-27 April : 8-11 May : 26-29 June : 10-13 July : 11-14, 18-21, 25-28 September

A potential programme could be:

FRIDAY
1400 Arrive, room allocations, Centre tour, fire drill
1445 Orienteering
1700 Finish
1815 Dinner
1915 Night Walk through woods to Corfe Castle and return
2100 Finish

SATURDAY
0800 Breakfast
0930 Campcraft Skills - Shelter building and Fire Lighting
1230 Packed Lunch
1330 Low Ropes
1630 Finish
1815 Dinner
1900 Freetime - use of TV lounge, meeting rooms, activity field and games field

SUNDAY
0800 Breakfast
0930 Archery, Climbing Tower, Initiative Challenges
1230 Packed Lunch
1330 Pioneering, Abseil Tower, Blind Trail, Problem Solving Tasks
1630 Finish
1815 Dinner
1900 Disco

MONDAY
0800 Breakfast
0915 Pack up, clean rooms
1000 Project T.E.A.M.
1230 Certificates + depart

The above would cost £176 + vat / child and £103.25 + vat / staff member.
We can offer 1 free staff place / 15 children.

Camping
Brenscombe now offers full board camping facilities, new for the 2009 season. This includes:

6 x 5m bell tents sleeping 6 people each for group members
2 x 4m bell tents sleeping 2 each for group leaders
Camp cots and pillows for group members
Beds and bedding for group leaders
Marquee with tables and benches
Rechargeable lanterns
Gas Burco boiler for hot drinks
Group leader chairs
Additional outside lighting

The cost for camping is the same as our normal accommodation rate (depending upon the food option) minus £8.25 + vat / person / night.