Parents Information
We know and understand that many children, and parents, can be nervous about a residential trip. To help, we have put together this 'For the Parents' page with lots of useful information to help you best prepare for your child’s residential and to give you a little insight into what your children shall be doing while they stay with us.
Our Aims and objectives
Ferny Crofts Scout Activity Centre is owned and operated by Hampshire Scouts.
In Scouting, our aim is simple – to help the individual achieve their full physical, intellectual, social and economic potential. Young people develop most when they are 'learning by doing', when they are given responsibility, work in teams, take acceptable risks and think for themselves.
Ferny Crofts exists to inspire and develop young people through outdoor adventure, and this is at the heart of everything we do. We love everything outdoors and have extensive experience working with schools ranging from Primary to University. We also work with hundreds of Youth groups throughout the year.
We believe that action and adventure can help develop young people and help them learn new skills for life. We ensure that each child is Challenged by Choice on our activity sessions. We encourage students to push themselves outside their comfort zone and to try something new. However, we never force anyone to do anything that they do not wish to do.
Our Vision is:
To have a reputation as a centre of excellence for outdoor adventure and personal development.
Our Mission is:
To provide a safe, diverse and inclusive environment that offers quality opportunities for learning through fun, adventure, development and achievement, for young people, adults and aspiring leaders.
Our Staff
Although all our staff here at Ferny Crofts are adventure driven, we also pride ourselves on being competent, responsible, and safety-focused. All staff at Ferny Crofts:
- Complete a full employment screening with relevant checks, including an enhanced DBS check
- Undergo a strict and comprehensive induction process, including ongoing training and assessments. This includes thorough Safeguarding Training,
- All of Ferny Crofts instructors are appropriately qualified for the activities that they lead. They all hold multiple National Governing Body Awards (NGBs) and where these are not available, have full in house training.
- Our instructors all work through a thorough training schedule and are observed and assessed multiple times by our Lead Activities Team and external assessors, before being able to run sessions by themselves. They then have sessions observed and monitored on a regular basis.
If you would like more information on our staff and instructors, please visit our 'Meet the Team' page
Our standards
We are regularly inspected and hold a variety of quality awards with Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Award, Adventure Mark and Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.
We conduct rigorous internal Health and Safety Audits and operate comprehensive Risk Assessments on all our activities and facilities.
We have external assessors come to site to check a variety of risk factors such as Legionella and Fire Safety in all our accommodation and facilities.
External checks take place on activities such as High Ropes, Climbing Walls and Bouldering Walls.
We have detailed emergency procedures in place for dealing with serious incidents.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What will my child be doing on their residential?
A. We have a team dedicated to your child's residential trip. They shall work with the school to create an adventurous and fun programme of activities for your child to take part in and make sure they get the most out of their time at our centre.
Q. Is there overnight cover at Ferny Crofts?
A. Many of our instructors live onsite and we have Duty Managers who have an emergency phone overnight, the school shall be provided with the number to this phone to call if needed.
Q. What should my child bring?
A. Your child's school will provide a list of recommended clothing for their specific residential trips. We would advise making sure they have enough spare clothes, warm clothes, wet weather gear, sun cream and closed toe shoes for activities. Click HERE for our suggested kit list but please ensure that it is the schools kit list that you follow, as they may have specific requirements in place.
Q. Do children have their own toilets and showers?
A. Yes! There are separate boys, girls and accessible toilet and shower facilities, as well as gender neutral toilets. If your child has any special requirements, please ask the school to contact us and we shall our best try to accommodate.
Q. Our child has an allergy, can you accommodate? (Catered Bookings)
A. We take allergies and intolerances very seriously. Your child's school shall be asked to pass on all allergy information to the catering team to ensure they are all accounted for.
Q. What are the menu options? (Catered Bookings)
A. The school shall be given our menu and asked to select the meals for their visit. We then pass this over to our experienced catering team, who will provide all the meals during their stay.
Q. What if my child gets scared when doing an activity/does not want to participate?
A. Our instructors will always gently encourage participants to face their fears and give everything a go. However, no one will be forced to do something they do not want to do.
Q. Are the activities dangerous and will my child be safe?
A. There is an element of risk involved in all adventure activities. However, those risks are managed by constant supervision from our fully qualified instructors. In addition, we hold a Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge which is a quality assurance scheme, that recognises good quality educational experiences and effective risk management.
Q. My child is not a strong swimmer, can they still participate in water-based activities?
A. All participants are required to wear a buoyancy aid when participating in any water-based activity and should never be in water they cannot comfortably stand in. We do not have open water on site
Q. Can my child bring their phone?
A. Their school shall have their own policy on mobile phones. We do advise that the centre is in the middle of the New Forest and therefore has very limited signal. There is no WIFI available to the children but is available for the teachers/leaders.
Q. How can I contact my child?
A. We always advise contacting your child through the school/teachers. However, in an emergency, you are welcome to call our office if you cannot get in contact with one of the teachers.
Q. Who allocates who stays with whom?
A. As a centre, we have no say over who shall bunk with whom. If you have concerns, please contact the school directly.
Q. My child lost something while onsite, can I get it back?
A. We hold all lost property for 28 days. If your child has misplaced something while on their trip, we advise emailing a description to fernycrofts@fernycrofts.org.uk to see if we have had it handed in. If we have your child's item in our lost property we can arrange to get it back to them.
Q. My child loved their stay at Ferny Crofts, can we come again?
A. We are always happy to hear it when students want to come again! We offer birthday parties here at Ferny Crofts, these include 2 hours of your choice of activities run by one of our instructors. You can also add extras to the party package, such as the use of our Pizza Oven. Please visit our 'Birthday Parties' page for more information.