Residential adventure centre in East Sussex
Description
Windmill Hill is a popular destination for schools from London and the surrounding areas. Located close to the coast near Hailsham on the picturesque Sussex Downs.
There's plenty of adventure activities in the centre grounds and if you want to go further afield, there's plenty to explore nearby, including Hastings, Battle Abbey, Brighton and Canterbury
Reviews
Overview
4.5
106 reviews
Excellent
56%
Very Good
36%
Average
8%
Poor
0%
Awful
0%
Induction Residential (October 2024 - Secondary School)
(October 2024 - Primary School)
(October 2024 - Primary School)
(October 2024 - Primary School)
(October 2024)
(September 2024 - Secondary School)
(August 2024 - Primary School)
3rd year that we have visited the centre. Good facilities, the class always enjoy the activities - a great range, with something for everyone. (August 2024 - Primary School)
(July 2024 - Primary School & Secondary School)
Team building exercises and OAA (July 2024 - Primary School)
Team building exercises and OAA (July 2024 - Primary School)
Enrichment. (July 2024 - Secondary School)
(June 2024 - Primary School)
(May 2024)
Adventurous activities (May 2024)
(May 2024 - Primary School)
Overall was really good, all the girls had a great time and played lot of netball. (April 2024 - Secondary School)
A successful trip providing a good standard of competition for our players. lots of activities to offer the girls in between netball and accommodation was clean and comfortable. Med list before the trip is a very lengthy process and I was surprised how many of the 16 girls were on meds (50%). I would recommend that this trip of offered yearly to our U13 Netball players (April 2024 - Secondary School)
(March 2024 - Primary School)
(March 2024)
(November 2023 - Primary School)
(November 2023 - Secondary School)
(November 2023 - Primary School)
Focus on PSHE skills also (teamwork, interpersonal skills and independence) (October 2023 - Primary School)
(October 2023 - Secondary School)
(October 2023 - Primary School)
(September 2023 - Primary School)
(September 2023 - Primary School)
The venue provided an excellent range of physical activities. They had a range of activities that the children did individually, and as part of a team. (June 2023 - Primary School)
Short of staff on some activities making it difficult to manage (June 2023 - Primary School)
Outstanding PGL centre. All staff regardless of their role, care tremendously about their part they play in the experience that children get over the course of their stay. Centre is set in lovely surroundings - close to the 1066 trail, Herstmonceux Castle and observatories - and the South Downs. (June 2023 - Primary School)
(June 2023 - Primary School)
(June 2023 - Primary School)
(May 2023 - Primary School)
(April 2023 - Primary School)
This is a great centre for building resilience and working together in encouraging people to face challenges. (April 2023 - Primary School)
(November 2022 - Primary School)
(October 2022 - Primary School)
(October 2022 - Primary School)
Activities were fun, challenging and engaging, young people enjoyed themselves thoroughly, accomodation was decent, good that the young peopel had a schedule of activities but also enough free time. Only downside would be the food provided left much to be desired. (October 2022 - Secondary School)
(October 2022 - Secondary School)
(October 2022 - Primary School)
(October 2022 - Secondary School)
(September 2022 - Secondary School)
(September 2022 - Primary School)
(August 2022 - Primary School)
OAA (July 2022 - Primary School)
Personal development, outdoor learning and team building activities (July 2022 - Primary School)
(June 2022 - Primary School)
(June 2022 - Primary School)
(June 2022 - Primary School)
(May 2022 - Primary School)
Good, but there are certainly areas that could be improved. There were certain restrictions in place due to COVID, which made things more challenging, but the vhildren enjoyed themselves. (March 2022 - Primary School)
Excellent week as always. All experiences very positive and staff were excellent. (November 2021 - Primary School)
(October 2021 - Secondary School)
(October 2021 - Primary School)
(September 2021 - Secondary School)
The centre had very well established routines linked to their risk assessments. All were shared with school staff. Staff were professional and knew their roles and responsibilities and all carried them out well. All spaces were of a high cleanliness standard with good ventilation. (September 2021 - Primary School)
(July 2021 - Primary School)
The children had an amazing time! The staff on site are very accommodating and support the children throughout! There is a wide assortment of activities for all to get involved in! (June 2021 - Primary School)
An enjoyable centre with an impressive range of outdoor activities to suit our children. Their staff are genuinely happy to help and are always encouraging the children to join in. Our only grumbles are sometimes the lack of thought in regard to logistics - raft building as first activity when no rooms are ready made changing afterwards interesting! Also it can be difficult to communicate coherently with Head Office/admin teams as often you get through to a different person each time, it would be much better if one person was assigned to each party! (June 2021 - Primary School)
Great place for Year 6 residential trip. Food excellent. (June 2021 - Primary School)
Communication between the management team and the PGL staff was not great. There was lots of confusion around their Covid measures. (June 2021 - Primary School)
(May 2020 - Primary School)
Well organised - children love it. (November 2019 - Primary School)
PGL Windmill Hill staff were excellent throughout our stay. They ensured that all children felt safe and comforted at all times, allowing the children to benefit fully during their times away. The facilities provided an extensive range of activities for the children to participate in whilst providing a good challenge. (November 2019 - Primary School)
End of season meant leaders were tired & some gave less than their best (November 2019 - Primary School)
The staff at PGL were very well prepared for each activity. They all gave clear instructions and referred to the core values. Organisation of timetable worked well.
We adapted Wacky Races to work with Halsford Park to enable teamwork across the Academy. The break out room provided for children during the disco worked well and enabled children to take part in different activities if they wanted to.
We need to tighten up on communication between school and the coach company as we were picked up later than specified which then bought on a delayed return to school. Ideally coaches arrive at 2 and we leave PGL at 2.30 to enable a return to school for 3.30pm. (November 2019 - Primary School)
(November 2019 - Primary School)
Great small site with a good range of activities. The sports hall floor is really tired and needs replacing though.
(October 2019 - Secondary School)
(October 2019 - Secondary School)
Well organised as always has been. Children well looked after on activities meaning they all had an amazing time. Brilliant food - it’s always a highlight! (October 2019 - Primary School)
Staff well trained and communication excellent. (October 2019 - Primary School)
(October 2019 - Secondary School)
(September 2019 - Primary School)
PGL reps were fantastic and couldn't fault their efforts. They were great with the students and really worked hard to ensure that we were accommodated. (July 2019 - Primary School & Secondary School)
(July 2019 - Primary School)
(June 2019)
(June 2019 - Primary School)
Excellent venue, staff and provider! (May 2019 - Secondary School)
(April 2019 - Secondary School)
(April 2019 - Secondary School)
Excellent facilities and the children loved the activities. We did have quite a few delays and problems caused by the severe weather on day one. In the end these were resolved and the senior staff were very helpful however things could have been handled better to begin with. (March 2019 - Primary School)
(January 2019 - Secondary School)
The centre was great and the girls had a really great weekend of netball. (January 2019 - Secondary School)
Great- end of season so staff were tired but still enjoyed the trip. (January 2019 - Primary School)
(December 2018 - Primary School)
(November 2018 - Secondary School)
(October 2018 - Primary School)
(October 2018 - Primary School)
No Problems always a great time apart from the weather (October 2018 - Primary School)
(September 2018 - Primary School)
Staff at the site were superb in ensuring that all our needs were accommodated. The site itself was secure and monitored at all times. All activities came with full and thorough training. The timetable was full and well thought out and pupils were very well fed by the catering team. A fabulous time was ghad by all, including staff. (September 2018 - Primary School)
(July 2018 - Primary School)
(July 2018 - Primary School)
(July 2018 - Primary School)
Excellent facilities and staff. (June 2018 - Primary School)
The facilities and staff were excellent. (June 2018 - Primary School)
Our group (children and staff) had an excellent time at Windmill Hill. The PGL staff ensured everyone was fully engaged and faced challenges with enthusiasm. Everything was fun and the group worked well as a team, supporting each other, being courageous and resilient, and overcoming fears. (June 2018 - Primary School)
(June 2018 - Primary School)
Excellent overall. Enthusiastic and helpful staff. Clean and safe environment. (June 2018 - Primary School)
(June 2018)
Very organised. Mostly well-trained and enthusiastic workers, with a good attitude to the children. (May 2018 - Primary School)
A brilliant centre that we would recommend to others and definitely be looking to go there again. (May 2018 - Secondary School)
(April 2018 - Primary School)
(March 2018 - Primary School)
