Dirty Training Retreat
Our Dirty Training Retreats are a little bit different. They not only provide high quality outdoor training, but they also focus on giving you time to focus on your own health and wellbeing in the beautiful Cairngorms.
Our mission is to finely blend high quality training with moments of mental rejuvenation in the embrace of nature’s beauty. The outcome? You’ll emerge from our retreat feeling revitalized, renewed, and reenergized!
We know we have created something special because not only do participants tell us, but they also return time and again. While schools tend to pay for some, our returnees often fund this themselves as they see the value.
Dates: 17 – 19 November 2023
Theme: Creative DREAMS
This weekend is focused on literacy, creativity and the expressive arts. We have the wonderful Sarah from Strathspey Storywalks joining us for part of the weekend, helping us explore traditional stories and folklore, with our Carol supporting and highlighting how these can be used to not only support literacy but every area of the curriculum.
As always, we request participants to deliver a 5 minute sharing activity.
Carol will also lead a range of activities literacy and other curricular areas with well known and loved stories for all ages.
Costs: £225 per person
Included: Training, Shared room in a twin or bunk room (single supplement available)
Food: breakfast Sat/ Sun, lunch Sat/ Sun, dinner Fri/ Sat and snacks throughout.
All bookings are non refundable/ non transferrable
To find out more and book email
info@loveoutdoorlearning.com
Our Weekends are
- designed for nursery, primary and lower secondary staff
- delivered Friday evening to Sunday lunch
- delivered by qualified and experienced teachers with the support of outdoor experts
- at sites carefully selected to ensure comfort and learning opportunities that can be transferred to your settings
- followed up pack with lessons and ideas
Autumn Weekend
FAQs
What does the weekend cost?
We always aim to make the weekends as affordable as possible. We are still working out the details for the Autumn weekend but will share once we know. Returnees benefit from a £50 discount.
Is the weekend only for teachers?
No! If you would like a bank of ideas that can you take outdoors for children in any sector or even for your own children, then you are more than welcome to come.
Where do I sleep?
If you are sleeping in a single room, then your room has a bunk bed in it, giving you plenty of space to store your gear.
If you are in a shared room, then it is a twin room with twin beds. These can be allocated to you, though if you have a friend coming, just let us know and we can place you together.
I am not outdoorsy, will I like it?
You do not need to be an outdoorsy person. This weekend is simply about being in beautiful surroundings and learning how to take your curriculum outdoors. The chill time activities are not directed, you do what you are comfortable with. If that means staying indoors, you are free to do so.
Outdoor centres are pretty basic, will I be comfortable?
The reason we head to Lagganlia is the comfort! The lodge is well designed with large, comfortable sofas spilt between two livingrooms, a large conservatory type area, two kitchens, two dining tables (though we tend to eat in the conservatory space), plenty of bathrooms, a hot tub, fire pit area and more. This weekend is about feeling good, not about roughing it.
Do you meet dietary requirements?
Yes! Tell us what you need and we will ensure to include that in our planning. One of our regular attendees is vegan and often says we feed her better than her own family!
What kit do I need?
You need to be dressed appropriately for a weekend outdoors, a hat, sun lotion and you may choose to take midge spray.
We will have our kit of yarn, Chalk, Phone, Measuring tape (10m and ikeas little ones), Small ball, pencil. paper, clipboards as well as midge incense sticks
Are the Midges bad?
They were present in the summer session but between Smidge and citronella incense sticks, we had minimal bites.
Is it suitable for my level?
We explain how to adapt the activities for all levels, from nursery through to secondary. Carol also has experience of teaching in ASD bases as well as severe and complex and includes strategies learned throughout the weekend.
Can I get public transport there?
You can get the train or bus to Kingussie or Aviemore and we can collect you from there. If you let us know where you are coming from we also keep an eye for car sharing opportunities.
Who delivers the training?
Carol is our founder and lead trainer. She has worked in education for around 20 years, spending time as a primary teacher in mainstream, severe and complex and ASD provision. She is trained in forests and coastal outdoor learning. Carol is a visiting lecturer at QMU, specialising in outdoor learning and is a published author.
If you have any other questions please do give us a shout and let us help.
Would you like to be the first to hear about the next Dirty Weekend?
Planning is well underway for our next residential training weekend. If you would like to be the first to know about it then join our mailing list.
