Dear Head teachers and group organisers
Please find enclosed residential booking information for Malvern Hills Outdoor
Education Centre for the period September 2011 – August 2012.
Planning school trips is always a difficult task particularly when you may not even
know the names of student you hope will attend. Bringing students to a
Worcestershire establishment should make your planning and organisation easier
as we are fully aware of the requirements for school visits that are in place. I hope
you will continue to support the Worcestershire Outdoor Service to meet your needs
across all year groups.
As many of you are aware, unlike many 'activity holiday providers' the focus of a
Malvern Hills residential experience is firmly based on educational principles.
Once a visit has been confirmed each school will be allocated a senior member of
our team with whom the educational details of their trip can be discussed. Invariably
the Course Director for your trip will visit your site a few weeks prior to your trip to
meet students and help prepare them to maximise learning outcomes. The Course
Directors visit is for students definitely attending and will likely to include some
teambuilding games. This visit is intended to enable the students to be part of the
process of designing their own course, it should not be confused with a marketing
visit to meet parents prior to booking, if you require marketing material please ask.
After your trip you may also consider asking for a member of staff to visit to see
how the trip has been integrated into the wider curriculum.
To give us an indication of your intent, previously we have asked schools to book a
full accommodation block at a set price. Several schools have commented on the
complexity of calculating fees, so this year we have tried to address this issue by
setting a pricing structure based on the number of individuals attending, irrespective
of accommodation blocks which will be allocated as we feel best suits your group
size. Where possible we will try to give schools exclusive use of an accommodation
block. You will notice there is a price incentive to bring larger groups and we would
encourage you to try to fill an accommodation block, possibly by bringing students
from different year groups who can be offered differentiated activity programmes.
Please be realistic with your booking request – final numbers will need to be
confirmed later.
Properly planned residential trips are powerful educational experiences. Please
continue using the Worcestershire Centres to deliver them enabling us to continue
to support you with all aspects of Outdoor Education Provision.
Yours sincerely
Phil Ascough
Phil Ascough
Head of Centre
Charging for 2009
Bookings Procedure
Please complete the request form and return to the Centre as hard copy
appropriately signed.
If you are able to please be flexible and try to give as many alternative dates
as possible.
 The Centre is happy to arrange tailored courses on a wide variety
of cross-curricular themes and will design a bespoke course to
meet your groups' needs.
 Smaller schools might investigate the possibility of making group
bookings with other small schools so as to fill the accommodation
available.
 Weekend Courses and camp-based courses (self-catering) can be
considered as alternative ways to use the resources of the Centre.
Accommodation & Numbers
There are 3 quite separate residential/teaching blocks: 


NORTH BLOCK holds 36 (+3 staff)
SOUTH BLOCK holds 40 (+5 staff)
THE CHALET holds a maximum of 16 (self catering possible)
o it has 2 x4 beds
o 2 x3 bed
o 1 x2 bed rooms

Campsite that can accommodate 20 tents
The optimum size for activity groups is between 10 -12 students
Teachers must accompany all groups with one member of staff of each sex for
mixed groups under sixth form age, in a ratio of @1:12 pupils recommended.
Initially student numbers are only an indication for planning purposes – please try to
be realistic and note the numbers available in the various accommodation units.
If you have a preference for an accommodation block please indicate, if so we will
expect you to try to fill the accommodation requested or indicate if you would be
willing to share the bock (not rooms) with another similar school.
Please submit separate forms for each course required.
Cancellations: In event of cancellation within 6 weeks of course
commencement the full amount will be charged;
Please refer to website – www.worcestershire.gov.uk/outdoors for full terms and
conditions of booking or contact the Centre who will email a copy
2