Bursaries Available!
Deanfield Outdoor Centre
School Trips
Bursaries Available! Residentials South West
Why book Deanfield Outdoor Centre for Residential School Trips and Educational Visits?
Deanfield Outdoor Centre has been owned and operated by Bristol City Council for over 50 years. Although we have capacity to take up to 84 students and 10 visiting leaders we pride ourselves in keeping it small and personal. e.g. we don't have a 'catering team', instead we have Karen, Steph, Sam and Jane who will go out of their way to make sure you are well fed and dietary needs are met. Our experienced and qualified Instructors will provide care and understanding for all students to ensure they have a great time and maximise their learning experiences whilst with us. We hold the AHOEC Gold Standard quality assurance accreditation and off course the LOTC Quality Badge and Adventuremark.
Many of our activities are on site meaning an action packed programme with no time wasted on travel. We are surrounded by the beautiful Forest of Dean for many other activities on our doorstep and the beautiful lake we use for canoeing is less than ten minutes drive away. All our activity programmes are bespoke to meet your needs and for your length of course.
Current School Trip Offer
Peak season dates have just become available for Summer 2025 and it's not too early to book for 2026
Teacher Checklist
Risk Assessments Inspection Visits Free Places for Teachers Bursaries or Funded Places Available LOtC Quality Badge Institute of Outdoor Learning Adventure Mark AHOEC Gold
What activities are available during group visits?
Al our activity programmes are bespoke to meet your needs/objectives and budget.
We can offer the following Instructor led activities:
- Climbing Activities - Climbing Wall, Jacobs Ladder, Crate Stacking
- Zip Wire
- Leap of Faith
- High Ropes Traverse
- Canoeing
- Corracle Building and Relay Race
- Bushcraft
- Archery
- Axe Throwing
- Mountain Biking
- Night Walk & Bonfire
- Geography River Study & Fieldwork
- Organised Orienteering Events
- etc.
We also offer a variety of activities that you can lead yourselves at low cost. These have the advantage of allowing you more ownership of the course with your group as well as keeping parental contributions down. They are set up ready to go with a film briefing for both students and visiting staff:
- Team Building Problem Solving Activities x18
- Low Ropes Course
- Tunnel System
- Stream Study
- Stream Walk
- Orienteering
- Treasure Hunt in Forest
- Number Trails
- Forest Walks
- Shelter Building
We can offer the following Instructor led activities:
- Climbing Activities - Climbing Wall, Jacobs Ladder, Crate Stacking
- Zip Wire
- Leap of Faith
- High Ropes Traverse
- Canoeing
- Corracle Building and Relay Race
- Bushcraft
- Archery
- Axe Throwing
- Mountain Biking
- Night Walk & Bonfire
- Geography River Study & Fieldwork
- Organised Orienteering Events
- etc.
We also offer a variety of activities that you can lead yourselves at low cost. These have the advantage of allowing you more ownership of the course with your group as well as keeping parental contributions down. They are set up ready to go with a film briefing for both students and visiting staff:
- Team Building Problem Solving Activities x18
- Low Ropes Course
- Tunnel System
- Stream Study
- Stream Walk
- Orienteering
- Treasure Hunt in Forest
- Number Trails
- Forest Walks
- Shelter Building
Which Curriculum Subjects do you cater for?
Bushcraft
Students will try various fire starting techniques before cooking dough twist dampers on an open fire. There is also the opportunity to cook popcorn bushcraft style. Often bushcraft is combined with Archery and or Axe Throwing to make a full half day session. Usually Shelter Building is combined with Orienteering in another part of the Forest.
Fieldstudies
Towns and Cities Rivers Over the years we have evolved from being a field studies centre into a general outdoor learning centre. We do still however offer field work - principally river studies at KS2-4 if requested. This is often combined with more general outdoor learning activities.
Physical Education
Climbing Canoeing Orienteering Archery High Ropes Circus Skills Caving Zip Line Kayaking Our experienced and qualified Instructors can lead a variety of adventurous activities including Canoeing, Zip Wire, Climbing Tower, Leap of Faith, Crate stacking, Jacob's Ladder, Bushcraft, Archery, Axe Throwing and Orienteering etc. There are also several activities that visiting staff can facilitate themselves including our Team Problem Solving Challenges, Tunnels System, Stream Study, Low Ropes Course, Orienteering & Shelter Building etc.
Wildlife
You've come to the Forest of Dean so we encourage you to get into it and experience it up close. You may well see deer, wild boar and buzzards all on one forest walk. The stream that runs through our grounds hosts an abundance of wildlife and our stream study session allows students to view invertebrates under a microscope and learn more about what lives in a stream and what it tells us about water quality.
Physical Geography
Rivers We have an experienced Field Studies Teacher who can deliver river studies at GCSE & 'A' Level. The nearby towns of Lydney or Coleford allow for town studies and contrasting localities with those near school.
Team Building
This is one of our main strengths as an Outdoor Learning Centre and one of our key 'touchstones'. We see teamwork and team building as central to the ethos of what we deliver and it comes into many of the outdoor activities we offer whether it is out on the lake canoeing in open canoes or on the climbing tower and peer group belaying. Our 18 team problem solving challenges are obviously dedicated to teamwork and have a score sheet that reviews team skills.
PSHE
Healthy Living Teamwork and resilience PSHE is not taught as a specific subject instead we embed aspects of this into all of our work. Our welcome briefing to groups will frontload and highlight the positive reasons why they are here on a course and what they can get out of it. We seek to develop their confidence and acceptance of challenge in new and unfamiliar situations to help build resilience and character. Teamwork is a central theme running through most of the activities and the residential experience itself obviously has many benefits associated with living as a community of people together.
Watersports
Canoeing Raft Building Kayaking We can provide kayaking if specifically requested but our preferred area of expertise is running open canoeing sessions. On these we focus on teamwork and often raft canoes together to have a team that need to cooperate and work together to steer and possibly race their boats. Just unloading or loading boats is another great way to start or finish the session with the whole team working together. It's not about turning them into canoeists it's about having a fun and rewarding session where they try new things and work together. We have a beautiful lake to canoe on that is less than ten minutes from the Centre and if finishing the session with a fun wet finish (in warmer months of the year) we will usually just jump them in the bus to get back to shower and change at the Centre rather than wasting time changing at the lake. This maximises activity time on and possibly in the lake.
We can also run corracle building and relay races. This is a modern take on the old raft building idea where small teams build a corracle from waterpipe, plastic sheeting and cable ties and then attempt to paddle it out to and around a buoy in a relay race with other teams. A great team activity that also makes fantastic spectator sport!
What size groups do you cater for?
We can offer day visit for up to 96 students at a time and residentials for 84 students + 10 visiting leaders maximum
Do you offer on-site classroom facilities?
The Garden Room is our dedicated room that can be used for a variety of purposes. It will seat 72 at tables cabaret style or 96 theatre style. It has been used for talent shows; discos; conferences; wedding receptions; yoga retreats; toddler groups and as a classroom. It has an adjoining kitchen + washroom facilities. It has Wi-Fi, data projector and karaoke system available.
We also have a large lounge in the main building + dining room that can be used in the evenings.
We also have a large lounge in the main building + dining room that can be used in the evenings.
Is there first aid on site?
All Instructors are qualified with Outdoor First Aid. Several support staff are also first aid qualified and catering staff have job specific first aid training.
Do you offer access for visitors with disabilities?
We have an ensuite disabled room on the ground floor for wheelchair users. Many of our activities have access and adaptions for those with disabilities.
Do you cater for visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)?
Yes. Every year a Special School visit us residentially for a week long outdoor learning course. We also expect a range of SEN needs on a weekly basis that we work with alongside visiting staff. Please contact us directly to discuss your exact requirements if appropriate.
Anything else?
We also have various other groups and youth organisations who stay with us often at weekends and in school holiday periods. These can range from yoga retreats and faith-based groups to weddings and sports teams on tour. We can provide both self-catering and catered facilities and also include some Instructor led sessions if required. The film below provides a 60 second flavour of some of the activities we offer:
Who are Deanfield Outdoor Centre?
Deanfield Outdoor Centre started as The Dean Field Studies Centre in 1972 owned by Avon County Council. It has evolved over the years to become a highly regarded Outdoor Centre now operated by Bristol CC's Trading With Schools. Schools come from the SW region and beyond. Some have been coming for 48 years but we also love welcoming new ones.
Special rates for schools
outside of peak season
Prices from £240 for a 5-day residential or £132 for a 3-day residential per head
Our calendar is seasonally priced according to the time of year with prices ranging from 15% above the base rate during peak season to 20% below base rate during off -peak. This allows some bargain prices during off-peak times where you will still get our warm welcome and full range of activities, usually with exclusive residential use. You will be treated to the house to yourself and our undivided attention. NB Any group over 48 students has exclusive residential use as standard anyway! For 3 day visits Mon-Weds bookings are offered at preferential rates all year round.
Teacher Checklist Deanfield Outdoor Centre
Risk Assessments Inspection Visits Free Places for Teachers Bursaries or Funded Places Available LOtC Quality Badge Institute of Outdoor Learning Adventure Mark AHOEC Gold
Add a review
Subscribe
