Abernethy Outdoor Centre

ABERNETHY NETHYBRIDGE GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS WITH SCHOOL TRIPS

Welcome Thank you for choosing to bring your school to Abernethy Nethybridge. The safety and wellbeing of you and your pupils is our top priority, and these guidelines have been put together to inform you of some essential information about your course here. If you have any queries or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.

On arrival at the Centre, rooms are allocated and a welcome talk is given by the co-ordinator. This outlines points to ensure a safe and smooth stay at the Centre and explains your programme. A fire drill will also be conducted on your first day.

Responsibility for your group Responsibility for pupils lies at all times with the teachers who continue “in loco parentis” for the duration of the trip to Abernethy.

Whilst an instructor is leading an activity session, without a visiting teacher being present, there is a transfer of responsibility to that instructor which continues to the end of the activity session, when responsibility reverts to the visiting teachers.

Within the remit of responsibility is the need for visiting teachers to gather consent forms from the parents or guardians of pupils and to provide the Centre with essential information on medical and other issues relevant to health and safety during the course.

School staff are responsible for the general supervision of the children after afternoon activities, during the evening and throughout the night.

Night-time Emergencies Emergency telephones are located in the main house hall at the bottom of the main stairs, and in the rear porch. Please use these to summon assistance in case of emergency between 10.30pm and 9.00am. Note that the fire alarm systems will automatically alert the night manager if they are activated during the night.

Illness & first aid Please contact Reception if first aid is required. In case of illness during the night, emergency clean up kits can be found in all of the chalets (leaders bedroom wardrobe) and in the main house (Cupboard next to the boys showers) for an initial clean up. We recommend that you wear the protective apron & gloves provided. Please use an emergency telephone to summon assistance should you require it. Please notify us of any illness in your group, so that we can make any special arrangements. If more than one person is affected by sickness or diarrhoea, it is vital that we are notified so that extra deep cleaning can take place and any contagious outbreaks contained.

Fire Safety There are separate automatic fire alarm systems in the main house, chalets & sports centre. Please note that all four chalets are covered by the same system – if a fire is detected in one chalet, all four chalets will be evacuated. On arrival, please familiarise yourself with the safety notice on the back of your bedroom door, which explains the fire procedure and escape routes. If the fire alarm sounds during your stay, please treat it as a genuine fire condition and evacuate to the assembly point on the front lawn. You may be asked by the Fire Marshall to conduct a roll call for your group. Please be aware of any special requirements (E.g. restricted mobility, hearing impairment etc) that your group may have with regard to a safe evacuation, and ensure that we are notified. Also note that the smoke detectors in sleeping accommodation are sensitive and can easily be triggered by aerosol deodorants or hair straighteners.

Security The Main House & Sports Centre are locked up at 10.30pm each night. Chalets can be locked from the inside, but this is the responsibility of visiting teachers – we recommend that you do this to ensure that your chalet is secure. If you see anyone suspicious on the premises, do not hesitate to notify an Abernethy team member. Daily Timings

7.45am Wake up call

8.15-8.45am Breakfast/make packed lunch

9.15am Meet for activities

4.30pm Supervised swim

6.00-6.30pm Evening meal

6.45pm Shop opens

7.30pm Evening activities with own teacher

8.30 pm Supper and Time-Out

10.00pm Bed

Abernethy staff will organise supervised swimming before dinner. Some schools also use the free period before dinner for diary/postcard writing. During the week (usually on your last night) we will organise a Wide Game and BBQ (weather permitting).

A “Time Out”, is a short, relevant Christian presentation by the team members usually involving music drama, stories and fun. This presentation is designed to be interactive and is tied in with the curriculum – a short ‘thought for the day’ is also included. Time Out is at around 8.30pm followed by supper, with bedtime at around 10.00pm. The latter requires supervision by school staff. The Duty Team member will then close the Centre at 10.30pm.

Listed below are some suggestions of ideas for evening activities that could be incorporated into your programme. On your last night, Abernethy staff team organise the wide game and bonfire with BBQ and on Wednesday evening a feature film is usually shown.

A) Abernethy Quiz- please ask the co-ordinator for details B) Board games are available in the Walker Lounge C) Drama/sketches D) Diary/postcard writing- the free period before dinner is suitable for this E) Quizzes F) Outdoor sports on the games field G) Indoor sports in the sports hall

Sports Equipment Each school is issued with an equipment box containing table-tennis, badminton, tennis and football equipment. Staff may wish to issue this to pupils at free times. Pool cues and air hockey pushers are provided in the games room. The school is responsible for the safe return of the equipment box at the end of the week.

A lounge is available for staff to use, with tea and coffee-making facilities as well as wi-fi internet access.

We would very much appreciate staff help with supervising meal times. Details will be given to staff by the co- ordinating instructor on arrival.

We wish to thank you for your help and look forward to working with you. Have a great trip!