The transfer of the Carnyorth Outdoor Education Centre from Cornwall Outdoors/Cornwall Council to the Aspire Academy Trust was completed at Easter 2023. The opportunity to preserve and develop a residential facility is vital to ensuring primaries are still able to access affordable school camps in a safe and well managed environment, and we are delighted to welcome Carnyorth Education Centre as the second Aspire Outdoors setting within the trust.
The Aspire Academy Trust comprises 36 primary academies across Cornwall, from Carbis Bay in the west to Bude in the northeast, from Grade Ruan in the far southwest to Padstow on the north coast. Each academy proudly retains its own identity and sense of place in the local community but as a member of the Aspire family, better provision, richer resources, higher standards, and exceptional learning experiences can be ensured for all.
The trust is an inclusive trust. Each Aspire academy believes in providing every child with the opportunity to experience an outstanding education, both academically and emotionally and socially. By rigorously identifying the barriers to learning, providing an inspiring and relevant curriculum that considers the whole child and providing the necessary support for children to achieve and develop, all children will reach their true potential.
Aspire Outdoors, our forest/beach school provision, aims to deliver a holistic, consistent and high-quality outdoor education programme all year round. In line with the Aspire vision, embracing regular outdoor learning opportunities helps develop life-long skills and attitudes, attributes and character traits that contribute towards healthy and fulfilled lives.
In order to bring the Carnyorth site back from its enforced hibernation and make it ready for the first schools booked to attend this summer, a hardy bunch of volunteers from the Aspire Core Service Team, armed to the teeth with marigolds, buckets and brooms, travelled down at the end of April to mop, scrub, chuck, chop, sweat, and occasionally shriek (the spiders were huge!). The big clear out paved the way for a professional deep clean and paint.
The first priority was to identify, naturally, a local pasty supplier and this was thankfully achieved quickly. McFaddens Butchers are definitely on the Aspire approved supplier list and we’re looking forward to taste testing the recommended Count House Café pasties at Geevor Tin Mine too!
Local residents may have noticed a couple of skips on the premises which by mid-morning were full to overflowing, cue a hasty call to the skip company for a couple more. In addition to the manual graft, the day also provided a great opportunity for individual teams within Aspire Core Services to get stuck into their day jobs, reviewing compliance paperwork, safeguarding procedures, identifying signage requirements, undertaking health & safety checks and risk assessments and ensuring that no stone was left unturned.
Carnyorth Education Centre is open all year round for residential visits, day visits and training activities. Integral to the activities on offer is an emphasis on recognition, protection and ultimately appreciation of the natural environment. The Aspire Outdoors Education Lead, Mike Turnham is a qualified teacher and moorland leader and he ensures the right mix of aspirational and inspirational education topics and lessons in adventure are delivered to fit with specific curriculum needs.
Current adventure learning activities include hiking trails/coastal footpaths; Geevor Tin Mine workshops; Bush Craft; shelter building; orienteering; natural art; flint & fire and geocaching. Mountain biking and archery are also on offer, depending on appropriate qualifications and skill level of staff. Climbing activities and water-based activities including sit-on-kayak, Canadian canoes, raft building and paddle boarding will be available in the near future.
This is an exciting new venture for us all and we hope that our newest family member brings benefit both to Aspire and non-Aspire primary schools for many years to come.
For more information on Cornwall Outdoors, please contact the Aspire Outdoor Education Lead Mike Turnham at mike.turnham@iaspire.net.
For more information on the Aspire Academy Trust and its 36 primary academies, please visit our website at http://www.aspireacademytrust.org or contact Tania Williams, Communications Officer, at tania.williams@iaspire.net, telephone 07834 376856.
For more information about the Carnyorth Education Centre, visit its page on the Aspire Academy Trust website.
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