School Residential Trip - Winter, any experiences?

[TheFurryMenace]

DD has changed schools recently and will be missing out on a much looked forward to school residential trip this term with her friends. Her new school are doing one in January next year. DD has not settled well at the new school, and is dreading the school journey in January as she hates the cold and doesn't believe they will be able to do much. Where she is going is in the UK, but likely to be grim weather-wise.

I've tried reassuring her that residential centres are set up for winter activities, but its not helping much. Has anyone got any experiences of Winter school journeys? How can I reassure her?

Im trying to be really positive about it, but she's still really upset and doesn't want to go. Trouble is, its compulsory...

How can I make her feel better and help her look forward to it?

DS has been on Scout camps in both December (tents) and January (indoor) and had a fantastic time. I'm assuming they will be inside, not camping?

They can do plenty in winter, everything except water activities really. The shorter hours of daylight are not a problem as they would have down time on a camp anyway. They would likely have evening activities in a hall such a a disco or games. As long as they have appropriate clothing then winter shouldn't stop them having a fun time.

What sort of centre is it? Big 'chain' like PGL or an independent?

Could you look up the website and see what they offer?

Presumably the school do this every year at the same time - could you speak to the teacher and get the m to describe what has happened in previous years, or show her some photos etc?

If it is a state school in the UK, I don't think the trip can be compulsory. I would do everything I could to support my child to go as it will help with friendships and probably boost her confidence, but if she really doesn't want to go, I would not send her. Is it near enough that you could pick her up early if it isn't working?

These days you can't really predict the weather from the month of year. A June trip last week would have experienced atrocious weather. A February trip in 2019 would have been warmer and sunnier.

The key predictable difference is the daylight hours. DS had a residential end of November, it wasn't warm by any standards but fairly dry, but the best part was their 'night-time' activities. Going for night-time walks in the dark, with torches, and guides pointing out nocturnal wildlife. Big bonfire and toasting marshmallows and sitting around the fire singing songs.

And yes they had a disco, and again it is a special feeling going to the disco when it is properly dark outside. It feels like a real disco!

You can do all that in June but it isn't the same feeling as it isn't dark yet (until way past kids' bedtime!)

My own best ever residentials were in winter (skiing, but I grew up in a ski tourism area). There are not many hours of daylight, so you spend every minute of them outside. In contrast, at school/work, you leave the house when it's dark, spend daylight hours indoors studying/working, and when you get home it is dark again. In summer it doesn't matter so much, you can still enjoy the day after school/work. Winter is the time when getting the chance to be outdoors during school hours makes the most difference.

I hope this gives you some ideas to talk up the January trip!

By January next year, everything can be totally different. And winter residential can be really great too. I did one, and I loved it.
Don't worry too much, be positive for now. She just changed school, anyone can be anxious.

Thanks for all your reassurances.

The school has not done a winter residential before, its a fairly new school so they dont have much experience of these types of trips.

It is an organised centre - The Outward Bound Trust. I did look at their website about winter activities and it didnt sound great tbh. I did ring them, but no one has got back to me yet.

I am hoping that by the time the trip comes around it will be better than she expects and she will have settled into the school better too.

I've taken Yr5 in January. It was always a brilliant trip and I much preferred it to summer residentials. Just make sure she's used to layering and send plenty of clothes. The centre will be used to it. Ours used to have loads of extra gloves, fleeces, hats etc to make sure kids were well wrapped it. The staff used to check what each child was wearing and tell them to get extra layers from the spares if necessary. One year we couldn't canoe because the lake was frozen solid but other than that they've offered near enough the same program as the summer trips. She'll be fine once she's feeling a bit more settled!

All our school residential trips are in winter - ds2 (y4) did one in jan in local country park which does a lot of school residentials and had a fantastic time. Ds1 in y6 did activity week in November and did kayaking, archery, stand up paddle boarding, zip wire, raft building etc and had a ball.

Mine did an end of Feb trip in west of Scotland age 11. At an organised school centre type place. It included rock climbing, kayaking, jumping in sea etc etc - I would have thought no way in Feb, but they were all kitted up by the centre and just got on with it and loved it.

There was a very inclusive and caring ethos alongside the gung-ho sounding activities. My DC is quite outdoorsy anyway, but all types of kids seemed to have really enjoyed the trip (everyone in year went, no exceptions)