After having 3 children going on various school residential trips over the years, I class myself as somewhat of a veteran parent. This year, more than ever, families are sending their little ones off into the unknown after 2 years of a pandemic making it difficult. So as my youngest has just returned from her school residential trip, here is what I have learnt:
Packing
No matter how sensible the kit list is, you will over pack for your child and they won’t wear half of it.
No matter if they don’t wear it, you will end up washing it all.
The Accommodation
Best not to look at the website the night before your little one leaves. All accommodation in residential activity centres looks like Borstal. There will always be the rumours that theres mould dripping down the walls and there are ant infestations but your children will notice none of it. Most children will be so intent on having a fantastic time that they won’t notice they aren’t staying in the Ritz.
The food will be awful
The pasta will be overdone, the rice will be sloppy, the curry will contain ‘ghost peppers’. I have no idea if this is actually the case but every child that has ever stepped off that coach will always complain the same. And it won’t matter!
You will find out how many sweets a child can actually eat
The majority of my girl’s cases always contained a huge amount of necessary cookies and sweets (no lollies – I couldn’t cope with thinking about them choking on those little blighters) and hardly any will come back. In fact, this time Tara managed to spend her allowance on yet more! I’ll apologise to the dentist now.
Comfort Zone
It really doesn’t matter what the children are frightened of, in the real world before they go. Throw a few friends and classmates in the mix and most children will have a go at any new activities. Tara had the most almighty tantrum once in Delamere about heights but scaled the Jacob’s ladder like a goodun on her recent school residential trip.
Have they vanished off the face of the earth?
9 times out of 10, school children are not allowed phones, so you will lose contact with your child completely while they are gone. Recently schools have started sending out texts to say they have arrived at the residential centres, but that’s about all you’ll get. And you know what? They’ll be fine!
Time
The lack of phones can pose one small problem, the children won’t know what time it is. The children are often expected to wake up themselves so its a good idea to arrange for one person in the room to take an alarm clock if nobody has a watch.
Disposable cameras cost a fortune!
Did you know they now cost around £20?! Scandalous! Most do include processing for this but even so. And please don’t get your hopes up, you won’t get great pictures for your 20 quid either. All hail the return of the quality mark stick on the photos.
One really clever mum popped a polaroid camera in her daughter’s bag – Tara came back with the most gorgeous keepsake of her memorable experience.
They will be so grown up
The child that you send off on their first trip will come back completely different having had a great time. The child that never makes their own bed, that never brushes their teeth or has a shower without much persuasion, will do all those things without you being there. A residential week (or even just a few days) is so much more than educational experiences, its all about personal development, a great way to develop social skills and communication skills and will have such a positive impact on developing important life skills.
You will have new respect for the teaching staff
Children love to see their teachers or a member of staff outside of the classroom environment and the unique setting of adventure centres. They will marvel that they are wearing different clothes to that in school and will love that they attempt the high ropes like the best of them. I’m just in awe that they can do all that without the aid of a glass of wine at the end of the day!
Their classmates
The children will come home having spent time with their classmates, discovering new challenges and building confidence. They will talk about their class members being the funniest people ever and will have forged new friendships along the way. The ultimate in team building and such a shame that mostly these trips tend to happen towards the end of primary schools.
The smell of the returned suitcase
Tara’s range of activities didn’t include water sports on this trip so we didn’t get the wet bag of doom. There is nothing like that smell of days old, festering clothes to welcome your child back home.
The tiredness
Make no plans for the few days after they return! Your child will sleep like you could only dream of when they were babies. Its a mixture of so much fresh air, a multitude of adventure activities and so many new experiences that will completely wipe your child out. I still caught Tara day dreaming days after she returned from her first residential visit.
You will miss them terribly
I thought third time of doing this that we would be super organised and use the first time Tara was away to take the perfect opportunity of a mini break ourselves. Not a chance! Even though we have years of experience of our young people going to some fantastic venues, we can never settle until they are back. Maybe when she goes to secondary school …
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I am seriously chuckling reading this and agreeing with everything! The overpacking is a given… and then washing it all again upon their return. The moans about the quality of food, but the fact they ate it. So glad she had a fabulous time, life is definitely getting back to ‘normal’ now! Sim x