ARC Adventures was set up with the belief that outdoor education could be done better. We push to reconnect with the roots of what it once aimed to be: A tool for developing emotional resilience, teamwork, and self-efficacy whilst bringing it into a format that fits into our modern world.
Below are some of the courses we offer although Forge, our traditional residential, can be tailored to suit the individual group and take into account your curriculum or specific objectives.
ARC uses taster sessions of traditional outdoor activities to build team bonds and facilitate young people exploring themselves. We focus on getting them into a growth mindset: Investigating emotions and their limits within this. This is supported by the journal, a workbook, that the young people complete throughout the week with various exercises and reflective points related to their experience.
Forge is run as a cooperative competitive week: The young people are divided into teams who go into each activity attempting to score points. At the end of each day, the points from each group are added together to create a cumulative score. This results in a competition against the other groups that attend a residential with us that year. This is an analysis tool for us; why did we score well, or not, on this activity? What could we have done better? This is discussed with each group, facilitated by our team leader, and forms the basis for the chats surrounding our hidden PHSE curriculum.
Our pupil-led residential adventure week: An all-inclusive, out-of-the-box programme where groups will climb, kayak, shoot, swim, and slide their way through the caves, lakes, mountains, and forests of Wales in search of the final message from the Tylwth Teg. Adaptable for all key stages and group sizes, Storyline is our pride and joy.
A week full of puzzles (think crystal maze) where every surrounding can be a red herring or a clue: Sit back and watch what happens when every decision, and consequence, is down the young people.
With their combined 40 years of experience in working with young people ARC has designed an adventure aimed at imitating the coming-of-age rituals present in many cultures. A walkabout for a new age, a challenge set to earn their rites of passage.
The week includes a combination of adventurous, creative, self-reflective, and experiential activities all with a common theme of self-exploration. It is designed to push young people far outside their comfort zones and give them an experience they will remember forever.
The successful pilot of this residential highlighted the power of connecting young people with the face of themselves they’d rather not meet, and the beauty of having the tools and support system to shape their ideas of how to navigate this world and who they want to become within it. These are some of the reasons we’ve decided to make Dagon one of our charitable aims, making it free for attendees. During our 2023 renovations of our centre this project has been paused ready to reopen its doors in 24/25.
Have very specific objectives in mind for a youth group getaway? Perfect! We absolutely love our themed weeks (geography, art, creative writing) or putting together completely new experiences.
So, whether you need some gaps in the timetable for classroom time or you’d like us to support you create a completely new experience for your young people, we’re here to guide you through all the details of your unique week.
I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to go on this trip, and nothing feels the same. I feel I’ve grown mentally and physically, and I spend more time with myself now trying to continue building myself, but it’s not the same. My journal from this week has become something super important to me, as well as my medallion. I bring it to school with me now, just in my bag. It’s given me motivation to speak more, and I think it’s going pretty well.
So yeah, I don’t have any criticism really. This was the best thing to happen to me in years.
This place is something else, if I could I would trade in my Xbox to be able to stay here every night.
© Activity Residential Camp
Adventures Ltd. 2024 (L118677)
CREATED WITH TLC BY @NIUD.CREATIVE
