Over 100 acres of beautiful woodland wilderness, easily accessible from London.
Based in Hertfordshire, the picturesque woodland setting of Cuffley Active Learning Centre promotes development and growth through engaging outdoor activities.
With the option of staying in our Pod Village or camping in Bell Tents, groups blend into the trees in their own exclusive camp with no crowds or queues.
A magnificent coastal centre, delivering unique outdoor adventures.
Based in Pembrokeshire, Sealyham Active Learning Centre is an outdoor paradise, encouraging confidence and personal development through a comprehensive range of coastal-based and inland activities.
Premium accommodation, expert staff, and high quality locally sourced food, create remarkable learning experiences.
An exceptional mountain-based centre, providing highly tailored learning experiences
Situated in the heart of Snowdonia National Park, The Towers Active Learning Centre delivers an exemplary standard of outdoor activities and instruction.
The outstanding high-quality accommodation provide a modern and comfortable base that teachers and students adore.
Building essential skills is fundamental to a young person’s development. All our courses at Active Learning Centres can incorporate the use of the Skills Builder Framework to deliver adventure and personal development experiences that align with the Skills Builder 8 essential skills –Leadership, Teamwork, Listening, Speaking, Staying Positive, Aiming High, Creativity and Problem Solving.
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The Skills Builder Framework is used by over 750 Schools in the UK to further the development of Essential Skills in young people. Active Learning Centres can support the development of the 8 Essential Skill areas by working with teachers and students prior to, during, and after their visit to one of our centres.
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HowweusetheSkillsBuilderFrameworkatALC
Post-booking, Trip Leaders are guided to the Skills Builder Hub to undertake an initial assessment of the visiting group’s stage of development of each of the skill areas. If a School so chooses, they can also ask their students to take a self- assessment. On arrival at the Active Learning Centre, The Trip Leader will then inform their Instructor of the Essential Skills and levels they would like to focus on for the duration of their stay or visit. By focusing on the development of target skills and ensuring all the activities offer the opportunity to engage with the skill development, students will move through the Essential Skills levels while also becoming more confident in their abilities.
At Active Learning Centres we see the wonderful opportunity there is for young people (and adults) to grow in confidence, resilience and agency through participation in well-structured outdoor activities.
Students attending a school residential trip or day trip at any Active Learning Centre are encouraged to explore new environments, experience new activities and build new friendships. During their time at our outdoor activity centres, they’ll focus on character building, essential skills and their own well-being.
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Character is a complex concept with a number of overlapping facets
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As a school activity centre, we have identified four important aspects where we can support secondary schools and primary schools to develop their young people through outdoor education:
The ability to remain motivated by long-term goals; students will learn to see a link between effort in the present and pay-off in the longer-term. They will learn the importance of resilience, overcoming and persevering through, and learning from, setbacks when encountered.
The reinforcement of positive moral attributes, sometimes known as ‘virtues’, and including, for example, courage, honesty, kindness, integrity, humility and a sense of justice, alongside others.
The acquisition of social confidence and the ability to make points or arguments clearly and constructively. We help school groups to improve their social skills and learn to listen attentively to the views of others, behave with courtesy and good manners and speak persuasively to an audience
An appreciation of the importance of long-term commitments which frame the successful and fulfilled life which help individuals to put down deep roots and gives stability and longevity to lifetime endeavours.
A force for positive change
Through our dedicated facilitation of outdoor adventure activities, the staff at Active Learning Centres believe we can be a force for positive change in young people. Through positive role-modelling, taking the time to engage and understand visiting students we can give them the confidence to take on the new challenges and equip them to be able to transfer key skills to new situations, both inside and outside schools.
Offering your students the opportunity to get outdoors and take part in an adventure trip like the ones available at Active Learning Centres provides opportunities and benefits/impacts that cannot be achieved in any other educational context or setting, as found by Learning Away. If you’re looking for additional resources on the impact of outdoor learning and character growth, we’ve shared a few resources here.
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ChildCharacterDevelopment
The development of a child’s character during their school trip is at the heart of what we do. Research suggests that there are enabling character traits which can improve educational attainment, engagement with school and attendance. A literature review for the Education Endowment Foundation and Cabinet Office found that:
High self-efficacy, or self-belief, is associated with better performance, more persistence and greater interest in work
Highly motivated children (linked to tenacity) driven internally and not by extrinsic rewards show greater levels of persistence and achievement
Good self-control (or self-regulation, the ability to delay gratification) is associated with greater attainment levels
Having good coping skills (part of being able to bounce back) is associated with greater well-being.
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StudentWellbeing
Evidence shows that a proactive focus that equips all young people to understand and self-regulate their own wellbeing impacts positively on their personal development and academic success. Wellbeing is the Active Learning Centres foundation and integral to our overall purpose of providing High Quality Outdoor and Experiential Learning Experiences, building self- belief and empowering individuals to succeed.
We define wellbeing as: The sense of feeling content; socially, emotionally, and physically flourishing.
ALC can and will make a positive difference to the wellbeing of students in our care, helping them flourish socially, emotionally, and physically. Promoting wellbeing is the shared responsibility of everyone at ALC, working with our client schools.
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50% of all mental health conditions begin by the age of 14. During this time, children and young people spend more waking hours in school than anywhere else.
Source: The Mental Health Foundation
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WHAT WE ARE DOING
Adequate and restful sleep
Healthy and balanced diet
Moderate to vigorous and regular physical activity
Connecting with self and others
Being engaged in a fulfilling activity
Giving to help a cause or others
Adequate and restful sleep
Adequate and restful sleep
This recharges both body and brain, improves the capacity to learn and retain information and improves social interactions – we’ll do this by ensuring our students have full and physically demanding days – the fresh air and exercise will certainly help them sleep!
Healthy and balanced diet
Healthy and balanced diet
Giving our organs and tissues adequate nutrition to work effectively and reduces risk of disease and ill- health – we’ll do this by ensuring that we provide healthy, nutritious food on all our courses – and we’ll help explain why we choose the foods that fuel the students on our courses!
Moderate to vigorous and regular physical activity
Moderate to vigorous and regular physical activity
This decreases the risks of developing certain diseases and conditions – being active in the outdoors is at the heart of what we do – from woodland adventures at Cuffley, through exploring the stunning coastlines of Pembrokeshire to climbing the rugged mountains of Snowdonia – we do it all!
Connecting with self and others
Connecting with self and others
This develops moment–by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings and body sensations and gives a sense of belonging, identity and security – creating a secure environment and encouraging open refection through structured reviews is critical to our work. Our skilled facilitators draw contributions from all participants by their challenging, yet caring and developmental approach.
Being engaged in a fulfilling activity
Being engaged in a fulfilling activity
Providing a sense of engagement, meaning and purpose – by working in harmony with our environments we encourage a view that includes sustainability and conservation – the outdoors is our workplace, we want all participants to respect and enjoy it.
Giving to help a cause or others
Giving to help a cause or others
Creates more compassionate and grateful communities and generates positive emotions for the giver as well as the receiver – from conservations efforts in the UK woodlands, to understanding the effects of tourism in our National Parks – we aim to make a positive impact through our ventures.
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Get in touch with us
Complete the form below if you would like further information or a quote for any of our Active Learning Centres. We will get back to you as soon as possible. Fields marked with an asterisk * are mandatory.
Whether you have a question or want to make a booking, we’re always ready to help.
Email usinfo@activelearningcentres.co.uk
Call us01235 467 304
Write to us
Unit 15, Eyston Way, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1TR
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