Biography
Arthog in Snowdonia Wales
Arthog Outdoor Education Centre is a purpose built residential centre within its own private grounds in a stunning location overlooking Barmouth Bay and the Mawddach estuary. The coastline is varied, with a mix of expansive sandy beaches, rocky shores and cliffs. The seaside village of Fairbourne is close by and the small coastal town of Barmouth sits across the estuary from us - accessible on foot via the railway viaduct. The centre has established an excellent reputation as a leading provider of adventure activities, capitalising on the diversity and quality of activity venues in this extraordinary corner of North Wales.
If you are reading this, you probably have an interest in the benefits to young people of an outdoor education experience. You may well have received promotional materials from other outdoor 'activity' centres. To help you decide which is for you, I would like to explain the philosophy and ethos which underpin our work at Arthog.
Activities at Arthog are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.
Our experienced team of outdoor practitioners are not only highly qualified in adventure activity leadership, but are also very skilful at using the outdoor experience to promote personal and social development and learning.
Facing appropriate levels of challenge and experiencing success, raises self confidence, self esteem and self reliance. Sharing experiences with others in the outdoors leads to a greater understanding of self, other people and the environment.
Because our staff team are highly qualified and experienced across a broad spectrum of outdoor adventure activities, we are able to provide continuity of instructor and group. Each instructor has 'ownership' of their group and they work closely with visiting staff to ensure that the aims of the school and needs of the young people are met. They have the autonomy to make decisions about which venues they use for their activities and how they manage the programme to ensure suitability and successful outcomes.
Environmental education and fieldwork
Environmental awareness and understanding underpins all of our work. When we take you into the outdoors for adventure you can expect our infectious enthusiasm for the natural world to emerge along the way.
Many schools visiting us choose to incorporate the John Muir Award into their adventure programmes. This is an environmental award which requires people to engage in a conservation project - an opportunity to make a positive impact and do something for the environment. Arthog is currently the largest provider of John Muir Awards in Wales.
We have a long tradition of providing fieldwork for visiting schools and colleges. The quality and diversity of environments on our doorstep combined with the resources in the field laboratory and library make the centre an ideal base. Close by we have access to glaciated valleys and uplands; freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats; spits, sand dunes, salt marsh and rocky shores; ancient deciduous woodlands and coniferous plantations; tourism and recreation; wind farms, hydro schemes, the Alternative Technology Centre and even a decommissioned nuclear power station.
Each fieldwork programme is designed to meet the specific requirements of your syllabus. If you want to 'pick and mix' you can incorporate some adventure activities in your programme too.
Arthog midweek package
The 5 day programme for Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire schools is an 'all inclusive package'. This relieves school staff of the burden of course organisation, responsibility for checking the quality of provision and carrying out risk assessments. You can be reassured that as a Local Authority provision which is also inspected annually by the Adventure Activity Licensing Service you will be in receipt of a high quality of service that conforms to Local Authority Health and Safety policies and is subject to rigorous inspection.
The package includes:
All accommodation and food costs
Your choice from our range of activities, all activity instruction and use of equipment
All risk assessments - barring that for the journey to and from Arthog, self-led activities and off programme supervision. Schools must risk assess these particular aspects of their visit.
A split week programme, Monday to Wednesday or Wednesday to Friday is chosen by some schools and is particularly suited to younger children experiencing their first trip away from home.
The same opportunities are available to schools and youth groups from outside of our local authority.
Arthog weekend package
A weekend stay at Arthog typically starts late afternoon on a Friday and finishes mid-afternoon on Sunday. Some schools choose to extend their weekend by incorporating a self-managed activity earlier on the Friday - a beach walk or visit to Barmouth for example. We try to be flexible and meet your requirements.
A weekend package is similar to a midweek visit in every respect.