What to expect on your visit
Who are we?
The Field Studies Council is an environmental education charity dedicated to helping people of all ages to experience the environment at first hand; to discover, explore and be inspired by the natural world. As part of its mission we welcome over 2,500 schools to courses at our Field Centres every year. They provide residential and day fieldtrips for all key stages primarily in geography and science subjects. We also run a programme of leisure courses for adults and reach many others through publications and community-based programmes.
Primary school residentials
Our short video explains what to expect and is ideal for parent events or assemblies. Pause the video as you need to chat about the areas of interest.
Day courses
Our day courses are quite similar to a day at school but most of the time will be spent outdoors.
Residential courses
Each day of the visit will be long, with activities from the morning right up until 8.00pm so lots of energy will be required but it will be rewarding and hopefully enjoyable. Students will have down time after 8.00pm supervised by group leaders.
Centre facilities
Each Centre is unique, so a virtual tour has been created of each Centre to show you what the accommodation, classrooms and recreational areas are like. They are located on the Centre’s web pages.
Each Centre has well equipped classrooms and all the teaching equipment that your group will need. Residential centres will also have common areas for staff and students.
Accommodation consists of a mixture of single, twin and dormitory rooms sleeping up to eight people. Bathrooms will be close by if the rooms are not en-suite. When making the final preparations for your stay, we will ask you or your group leader for the sex of each participant to allow us to allocate rooms and bathroom facilities.
Food
Breakfast is usually served sometime between 8.00am and 9.00am. Before or after breakfast students will be able to make their packed lunch. The evening meal will usually be served sometime between 6.00pm and 7.00pm.
Centres cater for most special dietary requirements and wil confirm these in advance. Hot/cold drinks will be available throughout the stay.
We do not use nuts in any food prepared on site at our centres. Our suppliers provide us with nut-free products. However, we cannot guarantee freedom from nut traces. Our catering environments have risk assessed procedures in place to minimise the risk of reactions due to cross contamination. All food handlers receive allergen training. We clearly communicate to our customers of any food items that “may contain traces of nuts”.
Visitors to our dedicated day centres, and on day courses are asked to bring their own packed lunch and snacks as catering facilities aren’t generally available.
Sample meals
View a selection of our sample meals here.
View the Halal meals we offer here.
During Ramadan
Observing the month of Ramadan
We look forward to welcoming staff and students to our Centre and aim to provide a supportive and inclusive environment during Ramadan. Please let us know if you have any additional requirements.
Meal timing
Depending on the timing and numbers, all students may be able to eat together. If Iftar is outside our mealtimes, evening meals are available and can be reheated if necessary. Guests will be shown where to go for food out of mealtimes.
Breakfast is left out at night for the following morning, and includes cereal, milk, croissants, jam etc. Snacks are also available to ensure students have access to enough food and drink to manage the requirements of a day of outdoor learning.
Prayer space facilities
At Residential Centres, Prayer room layout is determined by numbers, but we offer a pre laid out room (without any faces or sculptures). We can lay out prayer mats facing the correct way with feet and handwashing close by. Please check with your Centre before arrival as not all are able to keep prayer mats and you may need to bring your own with you.
At Day Centres we can make a prayer space available for staff and students. Please bring your own prayer mats.
Teaching during the day
Our staff will adjust teaching schedules and activities to allow fasting students to take breaks if needed.
Examples of courses
Films have been produced to demonstrate what happens on some of our commonly taught courses. They can be found on our YouTube site.
What to bring
To ensure you and your class are ready for their outdoor education trip, you can read and download our Kit List
We try to go out in most weathers so adequate clothing and footwear is important. Waterproofs and boots are available from Centres and our residential Centres have drying rooms.
We provide all bedding including duvet, pillow and sheets. Please bring a towel with you unless you are booked on an adult course.