Lodge Farm Primary School Year 6 Trip to Condover Hall

Lodge Farm Primary School
Year 6 Trip to Condover Hall

23rd May – 27th May 2016
PARENT HANDBOOK

Information about the site

Condover Hall is part of JCA Adventure and is just outside of Shrewsbury. The centre itself was built in 1586
and is a grade 1 Elizabethan Mansion. It is set in 78 acres of lovely countryside and gardens. It has been
adapted to facilitate a range of activities including abseiling, archery, fencing, climbing, indoor and outdoor
sports. One of the reasons that we chose JCA was have a unique policy of one dedicated instructor per
group for the duration of their stay, with an instructor to child ratio of no more than 1:12. We are planning
to have group sizes of 10 children. This allows the instructors to get to know the strengths, weaknesses and
personality of each child, helping kids fulfil their potential and get the most out of the camp. It also helps
ensure children are properly supervised at all times and feel safe and supported.

Reason for the trip
This trip offers the opportunity for children to experience outward bound activities that are not possible to
offer at school, under fully trained staff. Many of the activities focus on team building and problem solving
and the children also benefit from the extra responsibilities of looking after their own property and
socialising outside of school. We hope that this will develop their confidence, independence and social
skills and help prepare them for secondary school.

Staff

Group Leader: Sue Padfield
Leaders: Nicky Hand
Helen Bloxham
Maria Butler
Fiona Murray
Jack Brown

Accommodation

Lodge Farm will be staying in one of the eight accommodation blocks. The accommodation is based on a
lodge system and the children mainly share in groups of 6. We have requested the en-suite rooms but
there is one block with communal toilet and shower facilities. This will be confirmed nearer the time. All
rooms have good heating and are fitted with smoke detectors. The teachers’ rooms are located in between
the children’s accommodation, not only to allow supervision of the group at night time, but also so that
children who need to speak to a teacher in the evening are never more than a door or two away.

The children eat in the restaurant, under the teachers’ supervision. The food is very good; each meal has a
hot option and the portions are generous. Products containing nuts are not used. (Please see attached
menu).

During the day, and early evening, trained site staff lead the activities with the children and the teachers
support them.

Further information, if you require it, can be found on the JCA website.

http://www.jca-adventure.co.uk/activity-centres/condover-hall

A Typical JCA day

Here is a sample of how an average JCA day runs. Please note that timings may vary slightly depending on
the activity programme.

7.00 am Wake up, wash, brush teeth and make beds.

8.00 am Breakfast*

8.30 am Get ready for your day! (Remember your water bottles!)

8.50 am Your instructor will meet you at your accommodation or your first activity point.

9.00 am Your first activity begins.

10.30 am You have a 15 minute break

10.45 am Second activity begins.

12.15 pm Lunch*

1.50 pm Your instructor will meet you at your accommodation or activity point.

2.00 pm Your third activity begins.

3.30 pm You have a 15 minute break

3.45pm Your fourth activity begins.

5.15 pm Free-time

5.30 pm Evening meal*

6.30 pm Free-time*

7.15 pm Evening activity begins.

8.45 pm Return to rooms. Wash up, brush teeth and get ready for bed.

9.00 pm Quiet time in rooms.

10.00 pm Lights out. Time to sleep!

*Example times – we will be given an allocated time for all meals

Kit List

 Please mark all items of clothing with the child's name
 Please pack your child’s belongings in a holdall.

Please ensure all of your child’s belongings are named. Number Packed at Packed
Example Socks of items Home at Centre
10 10 4 none
match!

Toiletries Pyjamas
Other Underwear
Pairs of socks (allow 2 per day)
Trousers (It is important that the students do not wear jeans whilst
doing the activities for safety and comfort reasons)
Shorts (We hope!)
T-Shirts
Long sleeved top for archery
Tracksuit
Jumper/sweatshirt/fleece x 2 for evening activities
Waterproof jacket/anorak (Not just showerproof)
Waterproof trousers or trousers that can get muddy
Disco clothes
Towels
Gloves/hat/cap
Trainers or other substantial footwear
Old shoes (that can get wet and muddy)
Indoor shoes or slippers
Wellies
Sunglasses

Wash bag
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Sponge/facecloth
Soap
Shower gel
Hair products i.e. shampoo/conditioner
Hair ties (for long hair)
Hairbrush
Deodorant – no aerosols please as they trigger the smoke alarms
Sun cream

Pocket money (£15 maximum in £1 or £2 coins)and purse or wallet
Reusable Water Bottle
Plastic bag for dirty washing and shoes
Book to read

Medicines
Please ensure that all medical requirements are made known before the school journey. Medicine and
tablets must be clearly marked and given to Mrs Bloxham on the day of the journey. Please do not pack it
in the bag.

Electrical equipment
Children should not bring any electrical items such as i-Pods, MP3, mobile phones and Tablets, on the
school journey. Hair dryers and straighteners are also not allowed. However, they may bring labelled
torches, travel alarm clocks or watches on the understanding that these will be the child's responsibility.
They may also bring labelled disposable cameras or a digital camera (but if it goes wrong it isn’t our fault!)

Contacting your child

We ask that you do not try to contact your child directly during the trip and we do not permit the children
to phone home. However, we will be maintaining regular contact with school while we are away. You may
wish to send your child a letter, identifying their school group to the following address:

Condover Hall
Church Street
Condover
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY5 7AU

Alternatively, write them a letter and hand it in to Mrs Butler on Monday 23rd May, prior to departure.

The children will be given the opportunity to write a postcard home during the week.

In an emergency

Emergency phone calls will be taken by reception, manned 24 hours a day, and messages will be passed on
as soon as possible to the party leader. Alternatively you can telephone school who will pass the message
on directly via mobile phone to the party leader.

The phone number for the site is 01743 874932

Behaviour Expectations

As the children will be representatives of Lodge Farm Primary School, we also expect the same high
standard of behaviour that we see in school. In the extremely unlikely event of any child consistently
behaving in a manner contrary to the above, we may request that your child be collected from the site, so
as not to endanger the safety of other children. However, we would like to emphasise that this is very
unlikely and would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continuous support. We are looking
forward to a very successful and enjoyable trip!

Not the kitchen sink!

Please be aware that you will only be allowed one medium sized holdall as there is only this
‘under the bed’ storage for children’s belongings. We are not the Kardashians and will not

require 10 changes of clothing per day!