In March 2020, we put together an alternative, online residential experience for P7 groups due to regular trips being cancelled. This year, we have decided to put together a similar alternative residential offering, for P7 classes to do in school with their friends.
This resource is full of activities which can be done in the school grounds and, we know it is not the same as a traditional residential, but hopefully you will have fun and learn some new skills.
The activities can be carried out in any order that you wish across a week, but make sure you fill your week with fun and adventure. You and your pupils could find our more about different types of adventures on our Live Adventurously page.
Adventurers record their exploits so that they can share them with the wider world. Sometimes, they write books, blogs, make films, give live talks or podcasts.
If you and your class can record your week’s activity at Loch Down Lodge by using one of the methods here – Record your Expedition-and share it with us via email or @eaclost on Twitter, then we will reward you with your very own Loch Down Lodge certificate.
Bonus: If you and/or your school are interested in taking part in Loch Down Lodge Residentials, please get in touch with one of the LOST team and we will make sure that you can get access to resources you need. We will also come to your school to do a fire lighting refresher CPD for you and your staff, prior to your event, so that you can feel confident in having a celebration around the fire for your leavers!
All that’s left now is for you to plan your activities and have fun!
Below, you will find all the videos and activities that you need to plan out your week:
Orienteering and Map Reading
Orienteering is an exciting and fun sport which encourages team work and individual challenges. You can find out more about orienteering by visiting our page here. Can your pupils orienteer in their playground? Try out our introduction to orienteering lesson, or play a couple of the fun orienteering games featured here.
Try extending the work, by challenging pupils to draw a map of their school grounds. They could then mark control points on them for others to find.
If you are an EAC school, we may already have a map of your school grounds here: EAC School Maps
You could also practice your navigation skills by creating a map of your school grounds, or community area.
If you would like to do some more work on mapping then we have a selection of activities here: Mapping
Knot Tying and Den Building
Building a den is great fun, and learning how to tie knots can take your den skills to the next level! Challenge your pupils to tie proper knots and then see if they can use them to build a den. Can they fit their group in the den? Is it waterproof or weatherproof? Can they make it as comfortable as possible? Give your class the chance to chill out in their dens afterwards…maybe this would be a good time for your fire and story?
You can use any materials to build a den, including natural materials or tarpaulin. If you would like to loan a den building kit for your class for the week, then get in touch with us at LOST and we will book you in for a loan.
Bonus: LOST team members are now in a position to offer after-school training to staff teams. If you would like a fire lighting training session for your staff team before your event, please do get in touch and we will book a date.
Once your pupils have built their den, they might want to hear a story…
Listen to this story about two adventurers and then see if your class can complete the challenge – how far did their plane fly?
Pupils could have a packed lunch while listening to a story and could then create a story of their own to read to other children, either through creating an adventure or even whittling characters!
To whittle, you will need a potato peeler and some sticks. You could cut sticks fresh or you could collect fallen sticks on a walk.
Click to access enp-activityrecipe-potatopeelers.pdf
Make a mini nature reserve and improve your grounds
We think that it would be brilliant if you could spend some time improving your school grounds over the course of this week. What a great legacy that would be for your class to leave behind for future year groups. Why not support your pupils to create a mini nature reserve in the school grounds? This would mean that your grounds could support wildlife and future year groups could continue to maintain and look after it.
You can find further instructions here: Make a Mini Nature Reserve
You could also add to your nature reserve by building a mini pond:
Finally, we have plenty of ideas about what you could do to improve your school grounds on our Greening the School Estate in East Ayrshire page.
We hope you and your pupils enjoy their week of adventure at Loch Down Lodge! Please do get in touch if there is anything we can help you with or to enquire about resources.
