(Credit: Jonathan Pinder - used with permission)
Come and stay with us at Springhead.
Get the most from our stunning rural setting by bringing your pupils to stay with us for a 1 - 4 night (2 - 5 day) residential package. Every package is tailored to suit you and your learners with a pre-visit consultation led by one of our learning team and the option to visit in advance.
Accommodation is in dormitories with separate teacher rooms and communal spaces for evening activities and social gatherings, including our popular campfire setting when the weather allows. Each group has exclusive use of our classroom spaces and access to our entire site* and accessible surroundings for the duration of their stay.
* subject to daily risk/safety assessments and scheduled development/maintenance work.
(Credit: Jonathan Pinder - used with permission)
Keeping you nourished
Our visits are fully catered with a new and improved menu that when possible, includes fruit and vegetables grown in our own productive gardens and other locally sourced produce.
We will discuss your dietary requirements as part of the pre-visit process. There are even opportunities to include food preparation as part of your learning programme by pre-arrangement.
For teachers and support staff, you will have full access to drink-making facilities and our fully equipped kitchen throughout your stay.
Capacity and dates
Our site is in an ecologically fragile setting. This is one of the things that makes a stay at Springhead special and memorable, but it also means we place limits on numbers and dates for our residential visits. Pupil groups are limited to 32 pupils* with accommodation for up to 5 accompanying staff.
Our residential season begins in mid-April and runs through to mid/end October. Our most popular (peak) period is from mid-May through to mid-July and is often booked up to a year in advance with some schools returning year on year. We will always try to meet your requirements but advise early booking in order to avoid disappointment. Provisional bookings are secured by the return of a completed learning agreement.
* final numbers will depend on your gender breakdown and will be finalised during the pre-visit consultation.
Costs and support
We are fully aware of how challenging the financial environment is for schools and understand that costs are an important consideration in your decision about a residential stay. Learn with Springhead operates a 'fair-pricing policy' that in summary means we aim to...
... pay our practitioners appropriately for their experience and time;
... ensure support staff (catering, housekeeping, grounds) are properly remunerated;
... cover our real costs of resources, energy-use, and the impact of activity on the site.
Our residential prices are set to meet our fair-pricing policy and are regularly reviewed. The final cost of a residential visit will depend on the number of pupils and the duration of your stay. Teacher rates are the same as for pupils and we offer a free place for every 10 paying pupils.
Visit our Residential Costs page for an overview of our pricing structure for the 2023-24 school year.
Bookings are now open for 2023-24 and will be held on a first come first served basis upon receipt of a completed residential enquiry form. This allows us to accurately price up your proposed visit and keep your costs to a minimum. We will send you a proposal once we have calculated your costs and a Learning Agreement to secure your booking with us.
Please read the information below about our package options before completing the residential enquiry form as you will need to know which package you are interested in to complete the form.
Make it yours...
We know how special a residential visit to Springhead can be for your learners and aspire to make it a truly memorable and meaningful experience.
We understand that schools bring their pupils to stay with us for different reasons. You may want to use our natural setting to explore particular areas of your curriculum, or perhaps you are coming for team- and confidence-building activities. Towards the end of a school year, your visit might be more of a reward trip, focussing on adventure, fun and exploration. Some schools opt for a 'light-touch' stay with minimal involvement from our learning team, but others choose a fully facilitated visit where we design and deliver a full programme of activities and learning.
Whatever your priorities and level of engagement, we can adapt to make it yours. Choose from one of the following options to begin the process. We will then discuss the detail of your requirements in a pre-visit consultation.
Package A: this option includes accommodation on a catered basis (aside from packed lunch on day of arrival), full use of the learning spaces and Springhead site, and access to a selection of our learning resources and equipment should you wish to use them to run activities with your learners.
Package B: this option includes everything in package A but with the addition of a fully facilitated learning programme led by our practitioners with you and your staff in a supporting role.
Package C: this option is a blended option of packages A and B and allows you to select a mix of facilitated and self-led learning/activities.
In all cases, the details of your chosen package will be discussed and finalised with a pre-visit consultation.
Need to know more?
If we've not covered your questions or you just want to talk to someone about a possible residential visit then fill out a call-back request and we will contact you to continue the conversation.