Top School Trips -Issue 6

www.teachwire.net/school-trips | 19 Expanding children’s comfort zones through adventure... // KINGSWOOD Enriching young people’s lives WE LOVE TO LEARN School trips aren’t just to celebrate the end of Year 6. For over 40 years, Kingswood has been inspiring children to grow in resilience and improve their wellbeing through nature connectedness and experiential adventure. Learning through outdoor play offers unmatched opportunities for children to discover more about themselves, overcome challenges, and expand their comfort zones. Outdoor adventure experiences introduced early on in an academic year foster deeper relationships, to the value of ‘half a term’. According to research by Learning Away, 71% of KS2 pupils said that because of their residential, they got on better with the other pupils in class . Teachers also reported increased progress in learning and improved motivation, through pupils becoming more aware of their strengths. CURRICULUM LINKS BUILDING SKILLS Kingswood’s programmes develop eight key skills: listening, speaking, problem solving, creativity, staying positive, aiming high, leadership, and teamwork. PE Its 11 centres offer activity choices spanning water sports to archery. By developing resilience and teamwork, children feel more comfortable taking part in PE back at school. GEOGRAPHY Themed environmental sessions linked to the centres' locations range from exploration and field studies to sustainability andminibeasts. www.kingswood.co.uk | T: 0800 655 6564 | E: sales@kingswood.co.uk Challenge by choice Facilitating adventurous learning in a nurturing, friendly and safe way is exactly what Kingswood does. Children are empowered to make their own decisions about taking on activity challenges. Expanding comfort zones is effective when children feel supported. Taking an informed risk and trying something perceived as difficult, such as jumping off the Leap of Faith, with full support of peers, teachers and instructors, is where personal growth really happens. NEW for 2025 – Impact reports Kingswood’s impact questionnaire provides schools with a validated measure of an individual’s resilience and wellbeing following their programme. It’s a unique way to track the impact of your visit on children’s abilities to adapt to new challenges and maintain their psychological wellbeing. This measure was developed by UK academics in positive psychology and education and is a valuable tool for teachers to evidence pupils’ holistic learning arising from residential visits for OEAP and Ofsted. Rope of Resilience module This new evidence-informed module can be incorporated into your residential and is designed to build the resilience of young people. It uses the idea of a tightrope to represent that resilience is a personal journey of positive adaptation developed through actively facing challenges. A thicker rope helps us to maintain our balance as we face things that may unsettle us. Our ropes are made up of strands of soft skills that protect us from stress and promote learning. *Subject to availability L E A R NI N G J O U R N E Y S PARTNER CONT ENT Reader offer: Top School Trips readers can save 10% on school trips taken in September and October 2025 by quoting TOPTRIPS10*