Outposts Residential Camp Somerset

EXPERIENCE
Outposts have been operating residential camps on their farm site on the Quantock Hills in Somerset for schools from across the UK for over 20 years.

LOCATION
Just 6 miles from J24 of the M5, the Bush Camp feels like a world away from the confines of the school classroom, lending an air of excitement and adventure to an authentic outdoors & back-to-nature experience.

ACCOMMODATION
We have 5 brand new wooden lodges; each can sleep up to 16 in 2 or 3 bedrooms bunkhouse style. They are fully heated with toilets and hot showers.

We will still offer tented accommodation for those who embrace that style of experience in our Orchard Campsite.

FACILITIES
- Picnic tables
- A big 'braai' (large campfire circle with benches & BBQ)
- Large undercover shelter 'Bush Camp' with removable sides, open fire
- Fully equipped catering kitchen
- Plenty of space to run around during free time
- Best of all...little if no mobile reception where the young people will be!

HOME COOKED FOOD
We pride ourselves on offering home-cooked, locally sourced and predominantly organic food with beef reared on the farm where we are based. We offer continental style or cooked breakfasts, hot or packed lunches, wholesome evening meals with delicious puddings as well as hot and cold drinks and biscuits throughout the day.
Outposts cater for any kind of dietary requirement - nothing is too much bother. We are a completely nut free site. Please do just let us know well in advance so we can make the necessary arrangements.
We have a food hygiene rating of 5.

Farm

Part of your residential could include a tour and talk around Stream Farm (as seen on BBC Countryfile), which is only a walk from Outposts (itself based on a recently retired organic beef farm). We can introduce the students to the animals on the farm – there may be chicks, sheep and cows - and give them an overview of organic farm life.

Bushcraft

Bush craft sessions aim to improve communications skills, resilience and environmental awareness. The activities could include how to safely make and light a fire using natural materials, water purification, cooking, camouflage and concealment as well as building a shelter. Each session is different and focused specifically on your age group and learning outcomes.

Watersports

Water sports available include sit on top kayaking, tandem canoeing, raft building, coasteering, stand up paddling, surfing and sea kayaking. These high energy, adventurous activities take students out of their comfort zones helping to build self-confidence and resilience. They are led by experienced, qualified instructors.

Fieldstudies

Outposts is located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - The Quantock Hills - providing a wealth of flora, fauna and wildlife to study on the site itself and within easy reach of Exmoor and Dartmoor National Parks as well as the Mendip hills and a coastline full of geological interest.

English

Curriculum topics available: Story telling, Comprehension, Story writing, Creative writing.

Reading, writing and the spoken word are woven into all programmes so that the young people are learning without realising. Specific activities include collecting items from the natural environment as inspiration; story telling around the campfire; ‘word hunts’ to build sentences and stories; team reviews prior to and post each of the practical activities so they can describe their learning and extend this as part of a discussion; listening to instructions and sustaining concentration. This can be modified to suit all levels of learning.

Performing Arts

Role play is used to help young people identify with and explore characters from well-known texts as well as their own adaptations, trying out new language and supporting their comprehension and love of literature. With plenty of dressing up clothes and props are available, all they need to do is let their imaginations run wild.

Physical Education

Outposts’ outdoor adventure activities help to promote an active lifestyle for the future and demonstrate the importance of physical well-being. Engaging in the kinds of fun-filled, competitive challenges that Outposts provide build character and confidence as well as embed values like fairness and respect.

Art

Curriculum topics available: Drawing, Sculpture, Painting.

Creative sessions aim not only to help develop young people’s creative thinking, expression and practical abilities, but also help bring other areas of the curriculum the life. For example, making pictures and patterns using materials available around them and investigating their differing properties. Using brushes to paint mud onto a tree, examining the bark, structure of the roots and sparking discussions about what we use trees for and why they are so important to our environment.

Biology

Curriculum topics available: Plants, Animals including humans, Living things and habitats, Ecology and environment, Minibeasts, Habitats.

The outdoors provides the perfect environment for young people to experience and observe the natural world around them, noticing seasonal phenomena, patterns and grouping things such as plants, types of animals and habitats. We encourage them to explore, be curious and ask questions. For example, they can look for mini beasts under a log, record what they find and discuss the types of creatures present and the properties of that habitat.

Wildlife

Outposts is based in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - the Quantock Hills - and has a wealth of wildlife to spot, identify and track on the site itself as well as in the nearby woodland, lakes and moors.

Prehistory

Curriculum topics available: Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age.

Explore the way of life of people in the more distant past and how they might have built fires, foraged for food and used open fires to cook as part of a bushcraft and survival programme. As one of our sessions we make bread and can investigate the importance of bread throughout cultures and history. You can also take part in archery sessions – a key weapon dating back to the stone age but well documented by the Egyptians around 3000BC and was key right through until the invention of guns in the 1300’s. You could even build a trebuchet which appeared around 400BC in China!
Asking perceptive questions, critical thinking, developing arguments and judgements are also key parts of the curriculum and common themes throughout all activities.

Physical Geography

Curriculum topics available: Water cycles, Map and atlas, Environment, Coasts and seaside, Fieldwork.

What better way to develop knowledge, build understanding and inspire curiosity about diverse places, natural environments and physical processes than first hand - outside of the classroom – on a farm in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Observations can be made about features in the environment, describing places, making maps, conducting field studies and recognising why people may seek to manage them in a sustainable way.

All the programmes are designed to give young people the opportunity to develop essential life skills such as team-work, communication, problem-solving and leadership; building self-confidence and resilience.

ACTIVITIES CAN INCLUDE:
- Curriculum focused activities - talk to us to discuss your specific requirements - we have programmes to suit a range of subjects
- Bush craft & survival
- Team activities
- Adventurous activities - high ropes, caving, climbing, archery, airguns, coasteering, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking
- Evening entertainment - quiz, night walk, star gazing
- Orienteering
- Nature trails
- Raft-building

We can cater for groups of up to 120 for a day of activities. For residential camps up to 80.

The outdoors is our classroom however, we do have a couple of 'classroom' options, varying from the rustic to the more typical, WiFi connected, carpeted variety. We have our African style Bush Camp shelter which can accommodate up to 100 students, complete with gas lighting, wood burner and generator for any presentations. There is no internet connection or mobile reception making it the perfect place to really get away from it all but still have shelter, tables and power for a laptop and projector. We also have a more traditional classroom with all the mod-cons in a converted barn with room for smaller groups or up to 20.

All staff working with groups are fully first aid trained and certified.

Our lodge bedrooms are accessible and one of them has an accessible wet room. The site is accessible using an off road wheelchair. Everybody is welcome. Simply let us know your specific requirements.

We cater for children with special educational needs. Please contact us directly so we can discuss ways to make your programme appropriate and enjoyable for all.

Come and visit us here in Somerset or we can come to you for school-based training. This is learning outside the classroom at its very best.