Teach Secondary Issue 14.8

Ready for anything Residentials can significantly improve students’ wellbeing – but you might have to put them and their parents at ease before you leave, advises Daniel Harvey ... W hen I was at school, I was fortunate enough to attend residential trips that my school organised to Dorset, NorthWales, Chester and Paris. They were amazing fun at the time, and I still have fond memories of loading the minibuses to Bets-y-coed, queuing up to see the likes of Star Trek III in Dorset and Rocky III in Chester (having failed to get in to see Who Dares Wins ) and tasting mille-feuille in every bakery that my friends and I happened to walked past in Paris. Providing the students in my school with similar opportunities is one of the reasons why I’ve directly and indirectly supported the organisation of many such trips over the past couple of decades. Outward-bound residentials A residential trip offers students the chance to take part in new activities and experiences in ways that can leave life-long memories. Many primary schools will try to offer similar kinds of trips in Y6, specifically to give students a collective moment, or moments, to celebrate their time at KS1/2. And often, those primary students will get to look back wistfully at this key moment of their life, with its happy memories of challenges and opportunities accepted in the company of their friends. Many secondary schools will offer outward-bound activities to Y7s to encourage team building and bonding within what will be a new school culture for them. These trips can provide a secondary school’s latest intake with some big, impactful moments just as they’re meeting new classmates and making new friends, all whilst facing tough challenges (and trying to stay dry). There can also be other aims in play – such as my school’s offer of a residential outward-bound trip to all Y8s, solely to provide them with a special experience during a curriculum year that’s oftenmissing unique milestones of its own. And yet, despite the clear benefits for those children taking part, some young people will find the challenges of a residential visit away fromhome – to say nothing of the physical activities that are meant to be at the core of the trip – simply too different, and just so much that they won’t want to take part. If the school wants to make sure that its trips are inclusive, however – and ensure that the students in question can better understand how their anxieties can be overcome when away fromhome – they might want to take a number of steps beforehand to support and reassure all participants that the trip will become a highlight of their school experience. Support for anxiety andmental health All schools naturally want their trips to be inclusive to all students. I can very rarely recall any cases in which students were effectively excluded from participating in a trip from the outset. At my own school, this has only ever happened once – after a student’s behaviour was assessed by key staff who knew the student, and concluded that their standards of behaviour couldn’t be relied upon when away from the familiar school environment and their parents. For many students affected by mental health or anxiety issues, however, going on a residential could actually be an excellent way for them to achieve some notable successes. Careful staff selection, consistent communication with parents and students, and clarity as to the activities and demands that the trip will involve can all go a long way towards helping participants make suitable preparations, and ultimately make the trip a triumph for all involved. Occasionally, it might be necessary to organise separate meetings with certain parents and their children so that they can build up sufficient trust and confidence in the idea of being away fromhome, and potentially facing some deep-seated worries. Trip leaders should actively liaise with colleagues overseeing safeguarding and wellbeing so that a clear understanding can be built of different students’ needs, and what provisions might help themwhen they’re away fromhome. At the same time, those colleagues can also be telling the students they work with about the various benefits and upsides of going on such trips. These strategies and recommendations can then be shared with parents and students ahead of time. Pre-trip activities Ski trips in particular can often benefit from pre-trip activities that will help students to prepare. A visit to your nearest snow dome will give students some first-hand experience of the “Get toknowthe staffat the centre you’ve chosenand their preferredways ofworking” 32 teachwire.net/secondary