Ringsfield EcoActivity Centre

Ringsfield EcoCentre offers residential school visits and day visits for all ages and abilities, which are available all year. Our facilitators run sessions in an inclusive and engaging way to assist learning, and sessions are tailored to you and your group accordingly. Programmes are held mainly outdoors with accommodation in our attractive 50 bed Victorian house. Our programmes for ages 4-18, which are presented within a Bushcraft framework, aim to enrich curriculum learning and strive to foster young people’s understanding and appreciation of nature, community and self. This is an important element of education, recognised in Ofsted’s emphasis on SMSC Development. Very often the term Bushcraft is used to describe skills that allow us to live comfortably in the natural world, using natural resources in a responsible and sustainable manner. A deep connection to nature creates empathy and an awareness of one’s place in the world. We also recognise young people’s need for spiritual development, fostering their ‘sense of self, their unique potential, their understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and their will to achieve, and to develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to foster their own inner lives and non-material wellbeing’. DfES They will work with others, develop social skills and experience a ‘sense of belonging and an increasing willingness to participate and develop the knowledge, skills, understanding, qualities and attitudes they need to make an active contribution in each of their communities’. DfES Such work promotes resilience, eases transition and can alter risky and violent behaviour. It has also been found to improve academic performance and increase concentration. This has worked well with groups such as transition to new schools or new teacher, pastoral groups, nurture groups, and at risk young people as well as Young Carers and Looked-After Children. Even Gifted and Talented youngsters benefit from time in a completely new environment, meeting challenges that help them broaden their perspective and question their assumptions about their competences. Sometimes those who are neither high nor low achievers are overlooked and benefit from attention often reserved for those apparently more deserving.