Clavering Primary School

Children at Clavering Primary School have the opportunity to attend THREE residentials during their time at Clavering:

• a two-day / one-night residential in Year 4 (for which preparation begins in Year 3);
• a three-day / two-night residential in Year 5;
• a five-day / four-night residential in Year 6 (as part of our John Muir Award Programme).
  

The Clavering Residentials Programme provides the opportunity and experience of living with others which transforms relationships and develops a strong sense of community and belonging between the staff and children involved. This sense of community supports a wide range of positive social and learning outcomes long after they return to school, including further developing the ten Clavering Family Values (see below).

Although they are "only" an optional part of our extra-curricular offer, we believe that brilliant residential experiences are a fundamental part of a well-rounded education (playing an important part in our children's personal, spiritual, moral, social, physical and academic development) and that the Clavering Residentials Programme creates life-changing experiences that have an impact back in school and influences the futures of well over a hundred of our children every academic year. 

The memories Clavering children take away from our residentials stay with them forever!

HOW THE CLAVERING RESIDENTIALS PROGRAMME SUPPORTS DEVELOPING THE CLAVERING FAMILY VALUES

Curiosity

'I have discovered that the most curious people have the best adventures! The Clavering residentials have taught me that the most exciting adventures are done by people who adventure with curiosity, enthusiasm and passion.'

We believe that learning is most effective when it is fun and stirs our children’s curiosity. Using our range of carefully chosen and designed activities throughout the Clavering Residential Programme, we hope to make our children passionately curious – motivating and inspiring them to be the best they can be. Curiosity leads us down new paths, which can be most apparent in our more challenging activities, where our children may need to dig a little deeper to stay enthusiastic and put more effort in to benefit later.

Collaboration

'I could have not achieved what I have experienced on the Clavering residentials without working successfully with others. I have seen how when there is genuine teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.'

Being able to collaborate with others is a key ability, not only in school, but in life. All of the activities completed throughout the Clavering Residential Programme involve an element of teamwork, and – of course – the close proximity that we live together during our three residentials means that it is impossible to avoid working with others. Many of our activities are deliberately aimed at developing collaboration skills, giving our children the opportunity to involve themselves in working towards a common goal whether that is, for example, building a buggy, solving a complex orienteering task or cooking a meal in the wild.

Resilience

'The Clavering Residentials Programme has emphasised to me the importance of being resilient and finding the mental strength to go on because the results often astound me. If I FAIL, it is merely the First Attempt In Learning. What matters is that I have the resilience to keep going and never give up.'

Building resilience from a young age helps to equip children for setbacks in their studies, work and all aspects of life. Sometimes called ‘stickability’, the ability to learn from failures and view them as positive opportunities for learning are key to our approach throughout all three residentials. We believe that children equipped with a higher level of resilience find that they enter new situations with more confidence. Through our residential experiences and our activities, we impart new skills and support our children to face new challenges which require determination and perseverance, encouraging them to realise that the most successful people are those who know that when life get really hard and other start to fall away, that is the time to dig deep and give that little bit extra.

Respect

'There is no getting away from the fact that having respect for myself, my teammates, my instructors and the equipment that I am using is key to the best and most successful residentials. I have also discovered that when you have respect for nature, you are able to find beauty and adventures all around you.'

Our golden rule while adventuring on our residentials is to show respect to all the people, places, and equipment we encounter. Whether it be a new instructor, a set of climbing ropes, fellow team members or the accommodation facilities, respect is a foundational value within the Clavering Residentials Programme, and we expect nothing less from all our adventurers. Throughout all of our residentials, children are expected to respect themselves, others, equipment that they are using, and the environments in which they are adventuring. In particular, children realise that without appreciation and respect for other people, success on our residentials becomes very limited, if not impossible.

Honesty

'I have discovered that adventures are often unpredictable and, therefore, honesty is always important. Honesty with myself, teammates and instructors bring clarity, and clarity gives us the opportunity to make good decisions which is vital on adventures.'

We believe that honesty and integrity are values that are absolutely essential for success in life – in all areas of life. Our residentials help our children to understand that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity, and that developing these values – including in the toughest of challenges and most challenging of occasions – is vital. Children are encouraged to be honest and open about their fears and concerns – which we all have on residentials – because being brave isn’t the absence of fear; being brave is being honesty about that fear but finding a way through it.

Empathy

'Through the intense experiences I have had on Clavering residentials, I have learnt more about the power of empathy. I know that to be a true asset on an adventure, I need to be empathetic towards my teammates’ weaknesses, but also show them their strengths.'

Having the skills to empathise with others affect school cohesion, friendships and wellbeing. In many of our residential activities, children are required to take on both leading and supporting roles at different times. Individuals must consider the role they play within the team and how they best empathise and communicate with others, especially in sharing ideas or plans and developing positive relationships. The intensity of our residentials not only helps to develop our children’s empathy, it gives them the courage to display it.

Creativity

'My adventures have taught me that creativity requires the courage to let go of certainty. Coming up with new solutions to solve problems, trusting my imagination and creativity, and realising that life should be one big creative adventure has been one of the most powerful lessons of my involvement with the Clavering Residentials Programme.'

Many of our activities involve children having to think creatively and consider their ideas before then executing their plan. Likewise, many activities include a review session where children consider the strengths and weakness of their creative planning and action phases, and collectively what could be done differently or what learning can be applied to their next creative, problem-solving opportunity. Through this ‘experiential learning’ model, layers of learning are applied through continued cycles of plan, do and review.

Wellness

'I have discovered that being outside, adventuring in wild places with my friends is one of the best things I can do for my wellness. For example, on our residentials, I am more active; overall, I feel more relaxed; the outdoors helps my concentration to improve; and I know I am getting lots of vitamin D.'

Participating in the Clavering Residential Programme has obvious benefits to children’s mental and physical health; in addition, we believe that the supported and controlled risk-taking aspect of our residentials helps our children to prepare for challenges in life. All of our residential providers adhere to a clear philosophy of ‘challenge by choice’ and encourage participants to expand their personal boundaries in a safe and supportive environment. Quite often the residential experiences themselves poses children with the biggest sense of social risk or failing to complete a group problem solving task might be considered a risk too. By the end of each residential, the vast majority of our children say that their confidence to try something they wouldn’t have tried before has increased and they are able to understand the wellbeing benefits of taking healthy risks whilst making sure they can consider the consequences of their actions.

Self-Awareness

'My self-awareness has developed significantly during our residentials. By being self-aware, responsible, disciplined, prepared and believing in myself, it is AMAZING what I have achieved!'

Within the new environments and challenges of our three residential locations, children can find strengths they didn’t know they had and identify opportunities for reflection, boosting their self-awareness as well as their confidence and engagement in their home community and school life. Our children are often stunned by what they are able to independently achieve during our residentials, realising that our achievements are generally limited only by the beliefs that we impose on ourselves. Our adventurers realise that if they can replace doubt with hope, fear with courage and self-pity with a sense of pride, then they are able to achieve anything!

Citizenship

'I want to show positive citizenship in the world. I know that one of the best ways I can do this is to be an active conservationist: protecting the environment and – even better – creating a world where the environment doesn’t need protecting.'

A key citizenship aspect of our Residentials Programme is environmental awareness. We believe that a connection to the environment not only influences people personally, but environmental awareness and knowledge about our natural world also has global significance. Understanding the human ‘footprint’ on the environment is a core concern for global society and is a feature throughout the Clavering Residential Programme, resulting in our children having the opportunity to work towards and gain the prestigious John Muir Award. Reinforcing aspects of Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural education, we ask our children to consider what their ‘footprint’ is in all aspects of their life and help them make good decisions for the future as active conservationists.