Outdoor Education for Schools & Colleges

Residential courses and day visits at our stunning venue with experienced instructors, a wide range of activities, great outcomes and excellent value for money.

Schools return to Bowles year after year because of the positive impact our courses have on the children which in turn translates back to outcomes at school and at home.

At Bowles, we focus on both activity skills and personal development so pupils get a a well rounded educational experience whilst having fun, trying new activities and feeling great about the challenges they have overcome, the new skills they have learned and the friends they have made along the way.

A course at Bowles benefits from a unique range of challenging outdoor activities, an inspirational setting, well designed facilities and most important of all, our dedicated, experienced and caring staff team. Activities include rock climbing on our sandstone crag, skiing and sledging on our two slopes, kayaking in our indoor heated pool, and local rivers and lakes as well as team and high activities on and offsite. All of this is supported by healthy, homecooked food

Outdoor learning in a beautiful venue

So much of life is now virtual or synthetic that children can miss out on many things of real importance – real experiences, real activities, real relationships and real food, but not at Bowles!

photo-for-text-800x600 — Kayak games at an outdoor venue

Personal Development

A child’s development at Bowles arises not just through the adventurous activities, but through learning to work as part of a team, communicating with others, assessing risks, challenging themselves and making decisions. Our low staff ratios, small group sizes, and staff continuity mean that we can focus on bringing out the best in every young person.

Learning outside the classroom for both pupils and for teachers

Bowles champions high quality learning outside of school for all young people. We also work with school staff and management and leadership teams to help create the best staff teams possible. Inset days are excellent opportunities to inspire your team at Bowles, fuelled by our home cooked food.

Winter Explorer Courses

Introducing the £138 Winter Explorer 3-day Course for January 2024 and £170 in February 2024.

December 2023 courses still available – please contact us for details

The Winter Explorer Course is a low cost residential trip but with the high quality you would expect from Bowles Outdoor Centre.

In-school enrichment

Our In-School Team will arrive at your school in the morning and set up a range of interactive team building activities each requiring different skills.

Core skills:

- Leadership
- Co-operation
- Listening
- Planning
- Problem solving

Day visits

The outdoors is the perfect place for a fun, educational and safe course. With so many people across the country having recently missed out on education and social interaction, a day course at Bowles is a perfect way to provide enrichment to the pupils. This will give the students the respite, education, fun and social development they deserve.

A day or activity session at Bowles is an unbeatable way to inject energy and enthusiasm for learning into your group.

Residential courses

A residential experience with challenging activities and positive experiences away from school or college is often just what young people need to take their development and learning to the next level.

GCSE & BTEC courses

A number of secondary schools visit Bowles as part of their ongoing studies. There are many practical activities on the syllabus that can be completed at Bowles. We are able to offer training and assessments in many adventurous sports for both GCSE and BTEC.