Outdoor Education at Pendarren House is the ideal place to get your students to fully participate in the outdoor and adventurous activities part of the National Curriculum as detailed below:

PE and the National Curriculum

Pupils should be taught to:

KS3

take part in outdoor and adventurous activities which present intellectual and physical challenges and be encouraged to work in a team, building on trust and developing skills to solve problems, either individually or as a group

KS4

take part in further outdoor and adventurous activities in a range of environments which present intellectual and physical challenges and which encourage pupils to work in a team, building on trust and developing skills to solve problems, either individually or as a group

 

GCSE, AS AND A2

Pendarren offers courses which cover the syllabus requirements for a variety of PE modules including hillwalking, kayaking, canoeing, orienteering and rock climbing. The syllabus is covered with a mixture of theory and practical sessions culminating in an assessment.  If required video can be taken to provide evidence. Your course will be run by experienced staff with a huge passion for the great outdoors who will work in conjunction with your teachers to allow the course to be fully integrated with your own schemes of work.

In our experience the standard required at each level varies between the various syllabi and between subjects so you may prefer to discuss the options with Pendarren House.

The new GCSE PE specifications being taught from September 2016 have restricted the number of individual activities available for students at Pendarren House during a 5 day residential course. This is partly due to a change in the standard required; for some activities students would need to be regularly practicing e.g. with a club in order to achieve a good grade (AQA Canoeing and kayaking).  The activities available for teaching and assessment are canoeing, kayaking or rock climbing.  Only one individual activity will be able to be taught and assessed during a 5 day course and the options are:

The options are as follows:

AQA
Rock climbing

EDEXCEL
Canoeing
Kayaking
Rock climbing

OCR
Canoeing
Kayaking
Rock climbing

Eduqas, WJEC (assessment in England)
Canoeing
Kayaking
Rock climbing

 

AS and A2 level

The hill walking module can be completed using a combination of school and Pendarren, with the planning and expedition carried out at Pendarren House Outdoor Education Centre. We take groups into the hills of the Brecon Beacons in order to deliver the A Level Hill Walking syllabus. Whilst with us your students will learn how to navigate, map read, lead groups in the hills, pace, walk on a bearing, use a compass and all the other aspects of a hill walking. It’s a great week with lots of fun albeit with a serious side to the course, that being to get the best possible practical marks.

AS Hillwalking- example of timetable:

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
AM Travel to Pendarren Mountain walk / Scramble / Safety Expedition Mountain walk Expedition assessment Clean and hand in kit
PM Navigation training Depart
Evening Camp craft, safety talk, Mountain weather and hazards Route planning Logbooks

 

 

A2 Hillwalking- example of timetable

 

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
AM Travel to Pendarren Expedition Final day assessment from campsite Clean and hand in kit
PM Navigation training Depart
Evening Route planning Logbooks