Schools and Colleges
Field Study Trips

Using a qualified, experienced Mountain Leader to supervise your Field Study Trip makes so much sense.  OFSTED recognises that many teachers are now reluctant to take responsibility for the safety of groups of pupils in the outdoors, especially in wild country or remote mountain terrain.  Using a Professional Mountain Leader to take on that role means that as a teacher, you can concentrate on ensuring that the students have an experience that is educationally valid, confident that the logistic planning and the safety of the group are somebody else's responsibility.

The Lake District and Yorkshire Dales offer incomparable opportunities for students to explore and learn about the environmental sciences in areas of natural beauty, with lakes, mountains, valleys and forests in abundance. 

Their learning experiences are enhanced by the challenges that working in the outdoors presents.  For many young people the simple act of reaching the summit of a mountain for the first time is a memory to treasure, a moment of self actualisation, of personal achievement.

Curriculum Areas

The most obvious areas of the curriculum that lend themselves to exploration in the outdoors are the environmental sciences, primarily geography and land form, geology and geophysical science.  The Lake District has excellent examples of many of the features and building blocks of the subjects. Different rock types, gorges and ghylls, mountain tarns, glacial valleys and moraine heaps can all be visited.  The Yorkshire Dales are famous for the limestone features to be found around Malham, Gordale, Ingleborough and Kingsdale. Unique limestone pavements with clints and grykes, runnels, shakeholes, cave systems. 

Any trip to these areas guarantees that students will see at first hand the textbook examples of these features, ensuring that they remember them forever.

Art studies also lend themselves to the outdoor experience, taking inspiration from the natural world, the incredible work of nature which provides so much beauty and drama in so many different ways.  The opportunity of using some of the raw materials that are to be found in the outdoors to create artistic representations and to interpret the world in a different way.  It is no accident that the Lake District was home to so many artists, writers and poets.

Planning your Field Trip

It is never too early to start planning, even if you only have a vague idea of the parts of the curriculum you want to explore, or what aspects of the environment you want to include.  A telephone call to discuss your ideas and seek some suggestions is often the key to an unfolding of a realistic, workable plan.
A Mountain Leader will have a wealth of local knowledge that you will find invaluable, he knows where to find the features you are wanting to explore, how far apart they are, whether or not they can be incorporated into a programme.  Please feel free to telephone or email with your thoughts, ideas and questions.

Near to the final date you will need to have information at your fingertips for the Mountain Leader. How many pupils? How many staff?

Some essential information about any specific factors that might be relevant to the way the day is delivered, for example any individual health problems that could compromise safety. Some clear ideas on the objectives of the trip, and what needs to be included.

Once the details are all decided, the Mountain Leader will undertake to provide a fully detailed itinerary of the proposed field trips.  A detailed risk assessment will be produced for the teacher to include in any proposals to be submitted to his/her head.

Delivering the Field Trip

The party will be met and the proposals for the field trip will be discussed. Where necessary any changes will be discussed and agreed with regard to the abilities of the party, the prevailing weather or other circumstances.

During the field trip the Mountain Leader is responsible for the safety of the group, and for escorting them on the route that has been agreed.  The Mountain Leader reserves the right to alter, adapt or change the plans in the light of experience as the trip develops, and as circumstances change in the interests of safety.

The Mountain Leader will always carry:

A First Aid kit
Appropriate Ordnance Survey Map
Magnetic Compass
GPS Receiver
Emergency Group Shelter
Two-way radio
Mobile telephone (in some areas there may be no signal).
 

Further enquiries

Please feel free to make a telephone call to ask any questions, or to discuss your ideas informally.  For contact details please click on the 'Contact' button below.