Pendarren House Outdoor Education Centre is a large country house set on the side of Sugarloaf Mountan in the Brecon Beacons National Park. The 16 acre site lies in the Grwyne valley with stunning views across the Usk valley. Pendarren House is owned and maintained by Haringey Council and for 40 years has been providing residential adventurous and environmental outdoor education courses to the young people of Haringey. The house, with its large garden and outbuildings, was built in 1876. In 1972 it was purchased by Haringey Council and adapted for its present use. Since its official opening in May 1975 thousands of young people have enjoyed the Pendarren Experience and it is now open to other groups when it is not required by the young people of Haringey.
The Centre is well equipped to deliver a range of on and off site adventurous activities and has a fleet of vehicles to enable groups to make the most of exploring the National Park and experience nature at first hand. The personal development and environmental themed courses are delivered by qualified and experienced teachers of outdoor education in a friendly and homely setting. A common theme through all of Pendarren’s courses is the personal development of each young person who visits. See our Newsletters to see the impact that The Pendarren Experience has on those young people.
Our customers range from key stage 2 to secondary, further education, colleges, scouts, DofE, businesses and other organisations.
Courses are designed in consultation with clients, for most courses there are core themes of personal and social development and increasing awareness of the environment.
Courses help develop attributes such as confidence, self esteem, responsibility and independence, raising an awareness of self and others to improve the ability of an individual to work as a member of a team and allowing each individual to develop towards their potential. To deliver these courses, Pendarren makes full use of its location and groups have the opportunity to explore and undertake challenges in the natural environment of the Brecon Beacons, which includes rock faces, caves, rivers, waterfalls, mountains, forests and the beaches and cliffs of the Gower. In addition to these natural resources the 16 acre site includes a climbing and abseil tower, high and low ropes courses, orienteering courses and many other on-site activities.
Bespoke courses can be arranged e.g. targeting specific curriculum areas, team building for staff in organisations, SEN courses.
Haringey schools have priority booking but any subsequent vacancies are available to other groups including term time, weekends and school holidays.
Each group has its own accommodation building and so Pendarren can have up to three groups in residence at one time. Larger groups (up to 80) may use two or three buildings and have exclusive use for the week. One of these buildings is a self-catering bungalow which is available to self programming groups.
