Group leaders' FAQ's
The price always includes accommodation, bedding, all meals and free staff places at a ratio of 1:10. The Monday-Friday price also includes a full programme of tutored arts activities and facilitated evening sessions. The price does not include transport to and from the centre or insurance. Non tutored school holiday weeks and weekends are available at a reduced cost.
We’ll tailor the visit to suit your learning and activity requirements. Please get in touch if you’d like to learn more, or do have a click around this site to find more on activities.
Please contact us on 01889 270225, or [email protected], or via the “contact us” section of this site. We’ll learn more about the group and forward availability and prices to you.
We have a secure entry system with CCTV for visitors. We also provide a duty manager to ensure that our building stays secure throughout the day and night.
All group leaders are given a full briefing on what to do in the event of a fire on arrival. A fire drill will be conducted on the first day of your visit for all Monday-Friday bookings, and instruction on the evacuation procedure is given to all weekend groups.
Groups stay in dormitories with single beds. All bedding is provided but towels and washing kit are not provided. Children will be making their own beds during their stay... another brilliant life skill to bring home!
School staff stay in twin and three bedded rooms near to the children’s dormitories. Staff bedrooms have first aid boxes and tea/coffee making facilities. Staff have their own bathrooms, some of which are ensuite.
After discussing the visit we can reserve a date for 14 days without obligation. Your course is booked once you return a “Confirmation Booking Form” and we’ll help plan the finer details closer to the course start date. We don’t ask for a deposit with school bookings.
School staff are accommodated within the same dormitory corridors as the children and are responsible for the pastoral care of their group. There is a duty manager on site overnight.
We provide all the food, snacks and drinks that your group will need. We do have a small tuck shop available and a souvenir shop selling gifts. It is up to you whether you would like to make use of these facilities and to recommend how much pocket money would be appropriate to bring. We would suggest no more than £20 for a week. Please try to ensure the children bring change not notes.
We will liaise closely with you prior to your visit with regards to children with special educational needs and disabilities. We will help you in assessing the needs of the individual in the context of the venue and activities, and will endeavour to provide appropriate accommodation and activities. Where the special needs of a child are severe, we are happy for them to come on a preview visit with a carer/parents to familiarise themselves with the Centre and ensure that we have adequate provision. We have a small suite of rooms with full disabled access, allowing children to share with friends while providing provision for carers to stay close by. Although we do not have full disabled access to all of the rooms within Ingestre Hall, we are able to make reasonable adjustments to our provision to ensure that everyone can be included in the activities.
If you bring at least 50 pupils you have exclusive use of Ingestre Hall. Secondary schools do not share and our minimum of 50 students applies. You do not have to bring 50 students but your school would be charged for them as specified on your CBF at the time of booking. If you wish to share with another school you are welcome to do so and we encourage you to find a partner school to share with; your minimum numbers are then reduced to 30 students from each school. You will have been made aware if your group is sharing with another school if you are not paying for exclusive use and if you have not already arranged your own partner school.
The office is manned from 9.00 – 5.00pm. You should ensure that you have adequate mobile coverage for the evening if you wish to be easily contactable. Please contact us if you have any queries.
We would prefer parents to telephone your school emergency contact number rather than attempt to contact their child at the centre directly. Should a parent contact us during office hours we will always ask you to speak to them in the first instance. You must ensure that you have been provided with each parents’ full contact details so that you can contact them in any emergency. Please note that there is no payphone at Ingestre Hall but the office telephone is available to school staff for emergency use.
IWe recommend that groups should bring at least one of their own qualified first aiders and appropriate first aid kit. In addition, we have a number of fully qualified first aid staff, including all overnight duty managers. They are available to help and support the group first aider should they be required.
Clothing and shoes worn during activities need to be comfortable and may get dirty – so old clothes are best. Art students will require an old shirt or apron, and those taking Drama will need loose comfortable clothing. Dance will need black comfortable clothing if at all possible. Specialist dance shoes are not required. Students in the Music group may wish to bring their own musical instrument if they play already, but you should remind parents to check that it is adequately insured. We strongly recommend that parents name all items of clothing so we can send them back to you if they are found after your stay. We ask that each child brings at least one indoor and one outdoor pair of shoes, and that slippers are only brought to be worn in dormitories, not around the centre during the day. You can find further guidance in our downloads page.
The LOtC Quality Badge means that the holder has passed a robust assessment designed to ensure that they are meeting schools' learning and risk management needs, no matter what activities they offer. We have put together an information document outlining what you can expect when using a LOtC Quality Badge accredited provider, and the benefits of doing so. This can be printed off and incorporated into your health and safety procedures or LOtC/educational visits policy.
Download the information document HERE
Our site and activities are subject to annual risk assessments and both summary RA's are available on the Group Downloads page.
You are welcome to visit and carry out your own risk assessment. Sandwell schools and acadamies who have not opted out of Sandwell EV Services will not need to undertake a risk assessment. All groups will need to undertake their own risk assessments for the journey to and from the centre.
“It is the responsibility of the group leader to arrange travel to and from the centre, and to undertake risk assessments associated with the journey. These should include consideration of what measures will be taken in the event of poor weather forecasts and road conditions. In such circumstances, Centre managers are able to give advice, to the best of their ability, regarding local conditions to help to inform school/group managers in their decision as to when and by which route to travel.”
Parents FAQ's
We ensure that our centre is kept secure both day and night, just as you would expect your school buildings to be. We have a secure entry system with CCTV for visitors so that no one can come into the centre without our knowledge. We provide a duty manager to ensure that our building stays secure throughout the night.
We undertake a thorough risk assessment of our premises, site and activities every year to ensure that all our visitors are able to enjoy staying in a safe environment and all visiting groups have a tour of the centre on arrival, which includes a fire drill. All of our staff are DBS checked, as are any contractors who are required to undertake work on our site from time to time. We provide full first aid facilities and have staff who are first aid trained on site at all times.
Clothing and shoes worn during activities need to be comfortable and may get dirty – so old clothes are best. Art students will require an old shirt or apron, and those taking Drama will need loose comfortable clothing. Dance students are advised to bring black loose comfortable clothing if possible. Specialist dance shoes are not required. Students in the Music group may wish to bring their own musical instrument if they play already, but you should make sure that it is adequately insured. We recommend that you name all items of clothing so that we can send them back to you if they are found after your stay. We ask that each child brings at least one indoor and one outdoor pair of shoes, and that slippers are only brought to be worn in dormitories and not around the centre during the day. Your child’s group leaders are best placed to advise you on what to pack as they will have received a kit list from Ingestre Hall. The Student Kit List is available via our Group Organiser Info and the Downloads page if you would like to see it.
We strongly advise that children do not bring mobile phones or other expensive electrical equipment, jewellery etc in case they get lost or damaged. Please ask your child’s teacher for further guidance - the normal school policy would usually apply during the visit.
We provide all the food, snacks and drinks that participants will need. We do have a small tuck shop available and a souvenir shop selling gifts. It is up to you whether you would like to make use of these facilities and school might recommend how much pocket money would be appropriate to bring. We would suggest no more than £20 for a week. Please try to ensure the children bring change not notes.
Groups stay in dormitories with single beds. All bedding is provided but towels and washing kit are not provided. Children will be making their own beds during their stay... another brilliant life skill to bring home!
We provide three meals every day, cooked on site by our own catering team, who are used to providing for children with special dietary needs and food allergies. You will be asked by school to provide details of any special dietary requirements in advance of the trip.
We would prefer you to telephone your school emergency contact rather than attempt to contact your child at the centre directly. You must ensure that you have provided your child’s teachers with your full contact details so that you can be contacted in any emergency. Your school will be able to provide you with further details.
Your child’s teachers stay in the same areas as the children so are always available. Ingestre Hall also provides a duty manager in separate accommodation each night.
This is negotiated between your school staff and the centre and depends on the age of the group. School staff will supervise an evening programme of activities and the bedtime routine.
We will liaise closely with school prior to the visit. We will help assess the needs of the individual in the context of the venue and activities, and will endeavour to provide appropriate accommodation and activities. Where the special needs of a child are severe, we are happy for parents or carers to come on a preview visit to familiarise themselves with the Centre and ensure that we have adequate provision. We have a small suite of rooms with full disabled access, allowing children to share with friends while providing provision for carers to stay close by. Although we do not have full disabled access to all of the rooms within Ingestre Hall, we are able to make reasonable adjustments to our provision to ensure that everyone can be included in the activities.
Only if your school has chosen or agreed to share with another school. You should have been made aware by your child’s school if your group is sharing with another school. If schools do share they are always of a similar, or the same age. We would expect all children to mix and participate jointly in the activities, recreational times and mealtimes, and would highlight the importance of making new friends as one of the aims of the course. When sharing with another school each school will be in separate dormitories or on a different corridor.