Cumulus Outdoors Tented Village - Corfe Castle

Cumulus Outdoors School Trips

Why book 'Cumulus Outdoors Tented Village - Corfe Castle' with Cumulus Outdoors for Residential School Trips and Educational Visits?

Our tented villages are located in unbeatable sites along the shores of Poole Harbour, deep in the Dorset countryside. We are lucky to be able to provide wide open spaces for students to embrace the outdoors and experience some quality time with their peers.
The tented villages are close to Corfe Castle but hidden away from the hustle and bustle of daily life so staff and students can both unwind and immerse themselves in nature.
Each campsite has a fully fitted kitchen, shower and toilet facilities. Here students stay in top-of-the-range airbeam yurt tents with built-in ground sheets and sleeping mats. Attending staff also sleep under canvas with separate sleeping pods, camp beds, blankets, chairs and a welcome pack! Our central large tipis act as dining areas, group gathering spaces and locations for evening activities around the fire pit.
There really is no better place for a tented village school residential experience!
Please note, the tented village residential experience runs during the Summer term time and during the month of September.

Cumulus Outdoors Tented Village - Corfe Castle photograph

school trip at Cumulus Outdoors Tented Village - Corfe Castle

school groups Cumulus Outdoors Tented Village - Corfe Castle

Cumulus Outdoors Tented Village - Corfe Castle school groups

Teacher Checklist

Risk Assessments
Inspection Visits
Free Places for Teachers
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, Canoeing, Raft Racing and SUPs: The students will have a lot of fun, learning how to control their water craft and developing confidence in the water through basic paddle strokes and water safety techniques.
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.
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. Hopefully bringing back lots of Mackerel for the camp fire!
High Ropes Course: There are a number of learning objectives that can be achieved during our rope’s courses. As well as having an enjoyable time, students often leave the session with a new found confidence in themselves and their peers. We regularly see interpersonal relationships improve and quieter students come out of their shell.
Please ask if you cannot see the activity you would like for your students!

Which Curriculum Subjects do you cater for?

Curriculum topics available: Climbing, Canoeing, Orienteering, Archery, Kayaking, High Ropes, Coasteering.

We use team challenges, our ethos of 'challenge by choice' and leadership skills in all of our physical activities. The activities can be physically challenging but all students are supported and encouraged to achieve more than their original targets.

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 site on the Isle of Purbeck near Corfe Castle and Swanage, the sessions are fun and educational, all sessions are delivered outside beneath our parachute canopies. We teach the basic survival skills of firelighting, shelter building and camouflage - would you be able to survive in the woods?

Curriculum topics available: SUP Stand Up Paddleboarding, Kayaking, Canoeing, Raft Building.

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!

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.

Curriculum topics available: Conservation, Climate change.

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.

Curriculum topics available: Geological Processes, Rocks, Soils, Fossils.

Our tented village is adjacent to Swanage, 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 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 at the campsite.

Curriculum topics available: Saxon Settlements.

Explore Saxon sites across the Isle of Purbeck though educational walks, historical talks and site visits.

Curriculum topics available: Norman Conquest, Medieval Society and Feudalism.

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 boasts a thousand years of 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 led by our teaching staff. This can focus on topics such as continuity and change and we are happy to tailor your visit to other curriculum objectives.

Curriculum topics available: Queen Victoria, Railways.

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.

Curriculum topics available: How and why the War started, Trench Warfare, Technological developments, The Home Front, Evacuation, D Day Landings and VE Day.

Our tented village is located a 10 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.

Curriculum topics available: Water cycles, Rivers, Coasts and seaside, Fieldwork.

In Swanage, 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 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.

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: Coastal, 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: Plants, Animals including humans, Living things and habitats, Evolution and inheritance, Ecology and environment, Life Cycles, Minibeasts, Habitats, Underwater Animals and Habitats, Forest School, Relationships in an ecosystem (KS3/4).

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: 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.

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?

We have classroom facilities at our residential centre which can be arranged for use if required by those staying at the tented village. Communal areas such as tipis and marquees at the tented village can also be used as teaching arenas.

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 have spent the most wonderful week with our Year 6s at Cumulus’ tented village. All of the staff were incredibly skilled, helpful and approachable and formed wonderful relationships with our children. The activities offered were thoroughly enjoyable for the students and staff alike and the instructors made sure that all of our additional needs were considered and adapted them perfectly to ensure that all children could participate (even those with broken limbs!). The on-site chef was amazing at creating delicious meals and adapting menus to fit with a multitude of allergies and intolerances. The facilities were wonderful and have given the children excellent experiences of camping. The site was in the most beautiful area and was extremely safe and welcoming. We have had the most amazing time and cannot wait to visit again!"
R Hedges 2
School Visit 2022

The camp setup is absolutely amazing and your variety and organisation of activities is great! Thanks to you all for a brilliant and memorable week yet again this year!
The King's School
July 2023

The staff showed great enthusiasm and always gave their all to assist the children. The level of encouraging communication and flexible organisation ensured all activities were adjusted to suit the capabilities of all children so everyone was included at all times. Thank you!
St Andrew's Prep School
Summer 2023

The children had a fantastic time - thank you so much! The Cumulus staff went above and beyond to make the children's week a truly special experience that they will remember forever.
St Mark's CE School
May 2023

Who are Cumulus Outdoors?

Cumulus Outdoors was established in 2009 providing a range of outdoor adventure and residential programmes for schools, youth and scout groups. Cumulus is also a registered AAP and as such delivers Duke of Edinburgh River and Walking Expeditions plus Gold Residential programmes.

As well as Adventure Activity Days where you can select one or two adventure activities to enjoy, 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, Dorset Waterpark and Bushcraft to name just a few. Our highly qualified and knowledgeable instructors will engage all students at every level throughout your school residential trip 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.

Teacher Checklist

Risk Assessments
Inspection Visits
Free Places for Teachers
LOtC Quality Badge
AALA Licence
Institute of Outdoor Learning
British Activity Providers Association
Adventure Mark
Duke of Edinburgh Award