Cumulus Outdoors Residential Centre - Swanage
Cumulus Outdoors School Trips
Why book 'Cumulus Outdoors Residential Centre - Swanage' with Cumulus Outdoors for Residential School Trips and Educational Visits?
We are extremely fortunate to be able to provide all of our outdoor activities within the stunning landscapes found in South Dorset in the Isle of Purbeck. The area is the eastern gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site - walk along the South West Coast Path and pass the magnificent Old Harry Rocks, Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. Surrounded on three sides by sea water, coastal Purbeck boasts some of the best sea views and spectacular scenery along the whole of the south coast. Due to the outstanding geology and palaeontology, the Dorset (and East Devon) coastline has been listed as a Natural World Heritage Site and Jurassic Coastline.Cumulus Outdoors are proud to be a Jurassic Coast Business Partner, donating £1 from bookings for Coasteering and Climbing to the Jurassic Coast Trust. The money raised goes towards conservation and education projects all along the World Heritage Site, helping to spread learning and understanding about this globally unique coastline, and, crucially, to safeguard it so that future generations can enjoy it as much as we do today.
Teacher Checklist
Risk Assessments Inspection Visits Resource Packs LOtC Quality Badge AALA Licence Institute of Outdoor Learning British Activity Providers Association Adventure Mark Duke of Edinburgh Award
What activities are available during group visits?
• Bushcraft: Students will work through workshops scenarios which cover a range of bushcraft skills. Tailored to meet the age and abilities of the group, these workshops are designed to enhance their skills.
• Kayaking: The students will have a lot of fun, learning how to control their kayaks and developing confidence in the water through basic paddle strokes and water safety techniques.
• Mackerel Fishing: Students will be taken along the coast to the best fishing spots with a friendly skipper who will show them the ropes and explain the fishing technique.
• Rock Climbing & Abseiling: The students will learn how to fit a climbing harness, tie basic climbing knots and enjoy sea cliff climbing.
• Coasteering: An action-packed adventure along the world famous Jurassic Coastline, coasteering takes students on an exploration of caves, rock pools and cliffs. The activity includes swimming, scrambling and cliff jumping.
• Dorset Waterpark: Dorset Waterpark is a huge Woodland Waterpark spread over two lakes overlooking Corfe Castle. Each lake features different challenges for you to tackle.
Plus SUPs, raft racing, tag archery and air rifle shooting and more - please ask if you cannot see the activity you would like!
• Kayaking: The students will have a lot of fun, learning how to control their kayaks and developing confidence in the water through basic paddle strokes and water safety techniques.
• Mackerel Fishing: Students will be taken along the coast to the best fishing spots with a friendly skipper who will show them the ropes and explain the fishing technique.
• Rock Climbing & Abseiling: The students will learn how to fit a climbing harness, tie basic climbing knots and enjoy sea cliff climbing.
• Coasteering: An action-packed adventure along the world famous Jurassic Coastline, coasteering takes students on an exploration of caves, rock pools and cliffs. The activity includes swimming, scrambling and cliff jumping.
• Dorset Waterpark: Dorset Waterpark is a huge Woodland Waterpark spread over two lakes overlooking Corfe Castle. Each lake features different challenges for you to tackle.
Plus SUPs, raft racing, tag archery and air rifle shooting and more - please ask if you cannot see the activity you would like!
Which Curriculum Subjects do you cater for?
Curriculum topics available: Underwater Animals and Habitats, Living things and habitats, Plants, Animals including humans, Life Cycles, Minibeasts, Dinosaurs, Forest School.
Explore different habitats and visit sites around the Isle of Purbeck to learn about wildlife; Kimmeridge Bay for zonation, rockpools, fossils and rocks, Studland for habitats, succession and beach studies, RSPB Arne for bird watching.Our activities include: Identifying minibeast, animals interactions and food chains, animal detectives, evolution and adaptations, ultimate survivors, predators and prey, moth trapping, bird watching, rockpool and habitat exploring.
Curriculum topics available: Queen Victoria.
Explore your victorians topic with a day trip to the victorian seaside town of Swanage (dressing up is encouraged). Visits can include visiting; Swanage Heritage Centre, Swanage Steam Railway, Swanage Pier and Durlston Castle. Swanage is an ideal location to study local history.Our exciting Bushcraft sessions and challenges are geared to help you get back to basics whilst also enjoying the natural environment. Using our own woodland sites at our tented villages and at our residential centre, the sessions are fun and educational.
Our bushcraft & Survival Specialist, Ian, became infatuated with the outside environment at a young age and the bounty of knowledge he could gain from it, enjoying this environment so much he joined the Royal Marines in 2011 and has remained as a reservist ever since. As his passion to pursue this as a career grew, it brought on the drive to take up the role of an instructor and he sought out where he could achieve the necessary accreditations. The Level 4 Instructor’s course as accredited by the NCFE was his route in and through the multitude of courses he attended to obtain this, he began surrounding himself with like-minded individuals whilst training and travelling to remote areas of the world to learn some indigenous ways. The result being a selection of Bushcraft experiences led by someone with a genuine passion for what he does.
Our bushcraft & Survival Specialist, Ian, became infatuated with the outside environment at a young age and the bounty of knowledge he could gain from it, enjoying this environment so much he joined the Royal Marines in 2011 and has remained as a reservist ever since. As his passion to pursue this as a career grew, it brought on the drive to take up the role of an instructor and he sought out where he could achieve the necessary accreditations. The Level 4 Instructor’s course as accredited by the NCFE was his route in and through the multitude of courses he attended to obtain this, he began surrounding himself with like-minded individuals whilst training and travelling to remote areas of the world to learn some indigenous ways. The result being a selection of Bushcraft experiences led by someone with a genuine passion for what he does.
Curriculum topics available: SUP Stand Up Paddleboarding, Kayaking, Canoeing, Raft Building, Power Boating.
Coasteering is a fabulous sea and cliff based activity, which allows you to explore the Jurassic Coast under the supervision of qualified and experienced instructors. This fun water based activity involves rock scrambling and jumping, swimming and cave exploration.Kayaking, Stand-Up Paddleboarding and Raft Building are also available on the picturesque lake. Learn how to paddle and control a kayak and SUP plus master the skill of building your own raft and then racing across the lake!
Visit Dorset Adventure park and tackle the mud-trail or the water-park
Your students can enjoy a combination of Swanage site visits to learn about local history and the fishing and quarrying foundations of the town. Learn why Swanage has been known as 'Little London' and understand why and how it has developed into a popular tourist location. Swanage Heritage Centre, Durlston Country Park, Swanage Steam Railway and Swanage Pier all contribute to our local history provision.
Curriculum topics available: Saxon Settlements.
Explore Saxon sites across the Isle of Purbeck though educational walks, historical talks and site visits.Curriculum topics available: Trench Warfare, Evacuation, D Day Landings and VE Day.
Our Swanage centre is located 15 minutes drive from Studland Beach which was used to practise for the D-Day landings. Learn about the Second World War by arriving as evacuees by steam train to Swanage; visiting historical sites such as North Fort and Studland Beach; and visiting Bovington Tank Museum.We have partnered with the Dorset Wildlife Trust and with RSPB Arne so that your students can gain experience of the special environment (SSSI) on the Isle of Purbeck, a chalky heathland which sustains diverse fauna and flora species and is famous for being the home of all six of the native UK reptile species, breeding Dartford Warblers, Nightjars, Woodlarks and a large herd of Sikka deer. There are also large populations of migrant wading birds which over-winter on the mudflats of Poole Harbour. Your students can explore the home of these varied species under the guidance of experts from either organisation.
Curriculum topics available: Norman Conquest, Medieval Society and Feudalism.
A short drive from Swanage inland, is Corfe Castle, a quintessential English village which has grown up around an important defensive castle renowned in English history during the Civil war. Now owned and run by the National Trust, your students can visit the castle and learn about how Lady Mary Bankes defended the last Royalist garrison on the south coast with her children and an army of five men until one of her band led the Parliamentarians in through a side gateway.The castle has a very long history from its original construction by William the Conqueror through its destruction after the Civil War to its preservation by the National Trust today. Your students will have a fun, hands-on history lesson with knowledgeable guides based at the Corfe Castle visitors centre.
Curriculum topics available: Geological Processes, Rocks, Soils, Fossils.
Our residential centre location in Swanage, Dorset is a gateway town to the World Heritage Jurassic Coast. Here your students will have the opportunity to see the rocks and the resulting landscapes formed in three geological time periods called the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, spanning the time between 250 million years ago and 65 million years ago in a 95 miles of the south coast from Exmouth in Devon to Studland in Dorset. We can provide you with classroom facilities to study this important geological area and with transport to get you to fossil rich areas such as Kimmeridge Bay, and the iconic Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. Our Business Partnership with the Jurassic Coast Trust enables us to arrange for bespoke sessions with their ambassadors to deliver sessions for your pupils on site or in the classroom.Curriculum topics available: Coasts and seaside, Weather, Water cycles, Rivers, Environment, Fieldwork.
Our residential centre location in Swanage, Dorset is a gateway town to the World Heritage Jurassic Coast. Here your students will have the opportunity to see the rocks and the resulting landscapes formed in three geological time periods called the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous, spanning the time between 250 million years ago and 65 million years ago in a 95 miles of the south coast from Exmouth in Devon to Studland in Dorset. We can provide you with classroom facilities to study this important geological area and with transport to get you to fossil rich areas such as Kimmeridge Bay, and the iconic Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door. Our Business Partnership with the Jurassic Coast Trust enables us to arrange for bespoke sessions with their ambassadors to deliver sessions for your pupils on site or in the classroom.Swanage Bay is an ideal location for studying coastal erosion and methods in place to try and slow the process down, walk over Ballard Down to see Old Harry Rocks as a perfect display of chalk stacks and then visit Lulworth Cove, Stair Hole and Durdle Door for the complete landform examples of the whole erosion process.
Curriculum topics available: Climbing, Canoeing, Orienteering, Archery, Kayaking, High Ropes.
Physical education is incorporated into all of our adventurous activities, physical exercise, strengthening, resilience, plus team building and leadership. All approached through our challenge and achieve ethos supported by our experienced instructors and activity leaders.Curriculum topics available: Coastal, Geology, Rivers.
We can delivery high quality residential Geography and Geology field study courses for KS2, KS3, GCSE, IGCSE, A Level, IBDP and Scottish Higher Level in the UK. These field study Residentials are bookable from February to April and September to November each year. The courses can be tailored to meet your needs and requirements and equipment can be supplied, we are happy to run courses for smaller class sizes from 10 students and above.For Primary Level topics covered include river studies, coastal erosion, orienteering, map skills, historical days, WW11,
For Secondary Level; The Isle of Purbeck, and the broader Dorset area, provide ideal locations for fieldwork and can be used by both AS students to cover the two days of Fieldwork required and by A-Level students completing their NEAs
We will offer guidance on logistics, locations, equipment, theory and opportunities available to your students, at whatever level required.
Curriculum topics available: Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age.
Learn about the Isle of Purbeck, how it has changed overtime and about the people who have inhabited it.Curriculum topics available: Teamwork and resilience.
All of our activities from adventurous experiences to fieldwork require a certain amount of teamwork and cooperation.Curriculum topics available: Settlement and land use, Economic activity and trade.
Visit local towns and cities in Dorset for population studies, urban development and regeneration and tourism studies. There are a wide selection of local examples to visit on your self-led field study visit to cover various aspects of human geography and also linking this to historical developments of settlements through time.Curriculum topics available: Climate change, Conservation.
In today's world, environmental awareness is an essential topic to help children understand the environments they live in and how these are affected by the actions of the human race. Improve your pupil's environmental awareness through activities such as beach litter surveys and environmental quality surveys and investigations.Topics covered include biology, Geology, Environmental art, Weather and climate studies, and the Watercycle.
With a variety of team building exercises, challenges and games, your students will learn how to work as a team to solve the questions posed of them. Team building is incorporated into many of our adventure activities concentrating on how to achieve the best from everyone, support, encouragement, planning, leadership and self-confidence.
What size groups do you cater for?
From 10 up to 120
Do you offer on-site classroom facilities?
Yes we have a classroom allocated to each school staying at the residential centre, the classrooms have white boards, projectors and wifi for learning sessions whilst on the school trip.
Is there first aid on site?
Yes, all our activity instructors have a minimum 16 hour First Aid qualification
Do you offer access for visitors with disabilities?
We ask you to please contact us to discuss any disabled facilities required for your trip.
Do you cater for visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)?
We do have the capacity to cater for these children, please contact us for further details.
Anything else?
Dorset Tourism Awards 2019 Cumulus Outdoors Gold Award
"A great team and excellent instructors in a superb location"
We could not have asked for a better experience; the activities were outstanding and and catered for the many needs of our group.
Bishop Henderson School
2022
This is our second year visiting Cumulus Outdoors and we love it here. The team is fantastic and have taught our children so much. We will definitely be visiting again and have already booked for the next two years!
Hillbourne Primary School
2023
The location is fantastic, the accommodation is fantastic, the food is fantastic, but best of all the people are outstanding. We visited as a school party in March 2022 for the first time and was blown away, not by the coastal winds, but by the friendliness of all the staff. I am not one to write reviews but I really felt my experience needed to be shared with others. Decent fieldwork/outdoor centres are hard to find, but this one was such a great discovery :)
Melanie Collins
Field Studies Trip 2022
"A great team and excellent instructors in a superb location"
We could not have asked for a better experience; the activities were outstanding and and catered for the many needs of our group.
Bishop Henderson School
2022
This is our second year visiting Cumulus Outdoors and we love it here. The team is fantastic and have taught our children so much. We will definitely be visiting again and have already booked for the next two years!
Hillbourne Primary School
2023
The location is fantastic, the accommodation is fantastic, the food is fantastic, but best of all the people are outstanding. We visited as a school party in March 2022 for the first time and was blown away, not by the coastal winds, but by the friendliness of all the staff. I am not one to write reviews but I really felt my experience needed to be shared with others. Decent fieldwork/outdoor centres are hard to find, but this one was such a great discovery :)
Melanie Collins
Field Studies Trip 2022
Who are Cumulus Outdoors?
Cumulus Outdoors was established in 2009 providing outdoor adventure residential programmes for schools and youth groups on the stunning Jurassic Coast in Dorset, with 24/7 pastoral care. Choose between our hard-top residential centre in Swanage or exclusive tented village in a stunning location. Cumulus is also a registered AAP and as such delivers Duke of Edinburgh River and Walking Expeditions plus Gold Residential programmes.
Cumulus Outdoors offers bespoke outdoor activity 3 or 5 day programmes to fit each individual school depending on duration and nature of the trip. Each programme contains a unique set of adventure activities that can include Coasteering, Mackerel Fishing, Rock-Climbing & Abseiling, Field Studies, Waterpark and Bushcraft to name just a few. Our highly qualified and knowledgeable instructors will engage all students at every level throughout our school residential trips to ensure an action packed and educational trip to remember, incorporating our 'Challenge by Choice' ethos, so you’ll only ever attempt something you are totally comfortable with
We believe that learning is not restricted to the classroom, but something that can be achieved in all aspects of life. ‘Learning without walls’ offers fabulous opportunities for learning through outdoor fun. Spending time outdoors, away from the stresses of school can see children flourish and tap into talents that had previously remained uncovered.
Cumulus Outdoors provides two options for school residentials, either a Tented Village or Residential Centre. Our Tented Villages provide a unique setting in which students and teachers alike can relax in a camp exclusive to your group. We offer 24/7 on site pastoral care from our expert team of camp staff. Our dedicated field chef cooks hearty meals to refuel after a busy day of adventure and can cater to your every need and dietary requirement. Spacious tents are set around a large Nordic Tipi which contains a central campfire. Here the group can spend time together in the evenings, playing campfire games and reminiscing on the trip.
Our Residential Centre can accommodate up to 120 students in dormitories, most with ensuite facilities and 12 teachers in designated rooms, all set in six acres of grounds which backs onto the Townsend Nature Reserve and is approximately a 10 minute walk from Swanage town centre, the pier and the beach. All food is freshly prepared and cooked on site and served in the dining area. There are also facilities on-site for a variety of activities plus space for both outdoor and indoor recreation.
Teacher Checklist
Risk Assessments Inspection Visits Resource Packs LOtC Quality Badge AALA Licence Institute of Outdoor Learning British Activity Providers Association Adventure Mark Duke of Edinburgh Award
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