Our College First Year students recently visited High Ashurst Outdoor Education centre in Surrey to strengthen and build new friendships outside of the classroom.

The High Ashurst trips provided students with unique opportunities to strengthen and build new friendships outside the classroom. With numerous outdoor adventure activities hosted in over 56 acres of woodland in the Surrey Hills, the programme is structured to be an enjoyable learning experience and an important team building exercise across the year group.

“It gave tutors a wonderful opportunity to see their tutees in a different environment and appreciate strengths and qualities that are not always visible in day-to-day school life.”

Miss Pye, Head of First Year

The High Ashurst Outdoor Education centre is located on Box Hill, near Dorking, with its aim of ‘developing the personal, social, physical and emotional health outcomes of visiting groups’. The benefits of the centre include use of essential resources and equipment, teepee accommodation and numerous qualified instructors.

For a tight-knit experience, the year group divided into two trips, keeping tutor groups together. The trips kicked off with a bus full of eager students and heavy bags of camping gear, heading down to Box Hill for lunch and a walk before their activities began. This walk saw many students open up about their personal interests, as they happily conversed with their tutors and peers about shared interests and hobbies.

Once they arrived at the High Ashurst site, several smaller groups of students took part in a rotation of activities such as ropes, orienteering, fire lighting, and climbing. Delivered by qualified, experienced education workers, these sessions taught rewarding new skills, empowering students to work together using strong communication and listening skills, building strong mutual respect.

After their first round of activities, students collected their bags and headed to their teepees to unpack. They showed great self-reliance unpacking and sorting their own camping gear, setting up roll mats, sleeping bags, torches, clothes and much more! After settling into their tepees, they headed back to continue in their rotation of activities for the afternoon.

The low-level climbing activity, called bouldering or traversing, is designed to develop trust between a climber and their supporting partners. While one person climbs, the rest of the group ‘spots’ or supports the climber while ascending and descending the wall. It was heartwarming to see classmates cheering on their peers with words of encouragement and waiting patiently and considerately when someone was trying to overcome their fears to continue. This really came into its own in the climbing sessions, which saw classmates reassure and motivate students who were then able to continue on and complete the tasks.

“The activities were really fun; my favourite was rock climbing”.

First Year student Matthew T

The high ropes task confronted the teams with both participation and safety support challenges. Elements such as climbing and stacking crates, tackling a four-metre-wide ladder, climbing a tall post and a trapeze jump, provoked careful and intricate co-ordination.

Students also spent time learning about a variety of approaches to lighting fires and reflected on fire safety before enjoying a group fire and popcorn to round off the evening activities. They showed tremendous amounts of interest in how the fires were made, not just participating in the process of making them.

Throughout the trips, we were pleased to see those who were initially apprehensive, show a wonderful degree of independence. Especially as for some, this will have been their first time away from home and their family.

“It was excellent to see all the children striving to push themselves out of their comfort zones.”

First Year Group Tutor

It was wonderful to hear that everyone enthusiastically embraced so many new challenges and that these experiences together have developed their confidence and teamwork skills. We are very proud of all who immersed themselves in the week, whether they conquered their fears, made new friends, supported others or learnt new skills.