Outdoor Education

Outdoor Education

The exciting and challenging co - curricular programme of events at Downside includes a wide range of adventure-based activities.

We believe that adventure activities, especially those based outdoors, can make a significant contribution to the personal development of children and young people. Benefits such as increased confidence, self- esteem and social awareness, improved teamwork, problem- solving skills, fitness and health, all result in a positive influence on academic studies and mental health.

Adventure activities at Downside include The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, paddle sports, sailing, air rifle shooting, archery, caving, rock climbing, and mountain biking around our extensive grounds. Weekend adventure trips include the Ten Tors challenge and Skern Lodge in Devon.

Most adventure activities take place in the School’s safe and spacious 500 acre rural campus. Sailing and paddle sports usually take place at Cheddar Reservoir and on the river Avon. Younger pupils also learn kayaking skills in the Downside pool.

These activities, along with a wide range of other co - curriculum options, are open to boarders and day pupils alike. There is no cost to parents for any co - curricular activity organised on site, meaning pupils are free to choose as many school-based options as they like.

Comined cadet for ce

The Combined Cadet Force is offered to pupils from Year 9 at Downside School and is an or ganisation of which the officer s and cadets are immensely proud. We are honoured to be affiliated to the Ir ish Guards.

Pupils who have found the classroom environment challenging have often discovered other skills and abilities through the CCF. Consequently, their confidence has grown, leading to a positive impact on their wider success in the school.

The focus of the CCF is ver y much on fun activities which build confidence and leader ship. Cadets choose whether to join the CCF Band, Navy or Ar my sections and follow the relevant core tr aining syllabus.

Senior cadets complete the method of instr uction cour se which is r igorously assessed by contingent officer s and member s of the regular forces. This instils in the senior s the confidence to instr uct younger cadets in the basic syllabus with the suppor t of the officer s There are many oppor tunities to attend other leader ship cour ses and a summer camp at the end of the year which cadets from any year group can attend. Activities on summer camp include militar y skills, sur vival tr aining, adventure tr aining, and a multitude of spor ts

CCF band section

Downside School has a full CCF Marching Band along with a Pipe Band and the newly for med Cor ps of Dr ums Our CCF Band take pr ide of place leading the annual Bath Remembr ance Par ade .

downside school sailing club

Pupils have an oppor tunity to either lear n to sail or to develop their sailing skills fur ther Downside is a full member of the RYA accredited sailing centre located at Axbr idge Reser voir, near Cheddar. Downside has a lar ge fleet of sailing dinghies including nine Topaz Ar gos Pupils get the oppor tunity to join the Downside School Sailing Society when they enrol; for pupils in the Four th For m and above , sailing takes place weekly. For those who wish to take their sailing fur ther, pupils have the option of becoming par t of the School Dinghy Racing Squad with sever al oppor tunities to r ace against other schools, or CCFs.

ten tors challenge

Ten Tor s is an annual weekend hike in ear ly May, on Dar tmoor, Southwest England. Or ganised by the Br itish Ar my, it br ings together teams of six young people each, with 2,400 young par ticipants hiking to checkpoints on ten specified tor s Downside has a fantastic completion r ate in this annual event.

scuba diving

Downside School has its own indoor swimming pool which is ideal for our introductor y PADI scuba dives These are or ganised on a ter mly basis dur ing the summer and is a ver y popular activity with pupils.

caving and r ock climbing

Enjoying an enviable location on the Mendip Hills, pupils from Downside have access to a wide r ange of caving and climbing oppor tunities. Goatchurch Caver n is a favour ite amongst pupils and is a 'fossil cave ' for med by the action of water over many thousands of year s - with its choice of chamber s, passages, mazes, squeezes and features to explore and wonder at - it offer s exper iences for cautious beginner s to intrepid explorer s. Caving is a popular weekend activity.

Dur ing the summer months, climbing takes place at Bur r ington Combe , which is wellsuited for beginner s and for those looking to advance their rock skills Dur ing the colder months, we ar r ange numerous visits to an indoor climbing wall, where fitness and skills can be finessed in a safe environment.

shooting

The School is a member of the Mendip Shooting Ground, which hosts our weekly Clay Tar get Shooting Club, ever y Sunday. This is open to all pupils and is coached by a high-level national body coach

There is a fully licensed 25m r im fire r ifle shooting r ange on site for cadets, under constant super vision. Throughout all stages of our shooting progr amme pupils are taught the impor tance of safe handling and mar kmanship pr inciples This is followed by regular testing of weapon handling skills.

off-r oad c ycling

We have recently invested in a fleet of eight mountain bikes which are ver y much in demand by our pupils. Club tr aining sessions are or ganised each week depending on interest For those who prefer a more extreme challenge then regular weekend ‘ r ide-outs’ can be or ganised.

CCF Cadets also have the oppor tunity of attending a week-long residential mountain bike cour se in Snowdonia National Par k along with oppor tunities to attend Royal Navy cadet-led mountain bike tr ips and cour ses.

paddle sports

Downside has joined forces with Canoe Avon, a paddle spor t club located at Salford on the r iver Avon. Canoe Avon is a fullyfledged member of the Br itish Canoe Union (BCU) and is affiliated to Canoe England. As an affiliated member, our school has full access to a wide r ange of kayaks and canoes along with the use of a fantastic clubhouse and its facilities.

Alongside weekly indoor pool kayaking sessions, cadets can take par t in regular tr aining in kayaks, canoes or paddleboards

Downside School CCF also r uns annual multi-day open canoeing expeditions, gener ally held over the summer in var ious locations around the UK Sever al groups choose canoeing as their mode of tr avel for their Gold DofE Award

duke of edinbur gh award

The Duke of Edinbur gh Award (DofE) is inter nationally recognised and held in high esteem by employer s and univer sities alike for the benefits that young people gain from completing a self-imposed schedule of challenging activities The DofE is designed as a progressive per sonal challenge and as such it is recommended that par ticipants complete each level before moving onto the next stage

Here at Downside , pupils are encour aged to take par t in all three sections of the awardbronze , silver and gold. We have a ver y high success r ate with almost all pupils in the Third For m taking the Bronze Award. We are for tunate to have a lar ge staff body qualified and exper ienced to r un all our expeditions in-house We have also invested a great deal of money into our Outdoor Education equipment store which pupils can access free of char ge .

ar chery

Downside School has a 6-lane indoor archer y range within the Old Gymnasium and sessions are organised for pupils as par t of the co-curricular offering.