7 team building trips for Year 7 pupils

Bridge the gap between unacquainted students in September by taking your new Year Sevens on a long or short term teambuilding trip.

Guaranteed to bond even the most nervous of new pupils, team building exercises are proven to help students grow in confidence, enhance communication skills, and above all, provide heaps of fun for all. Here are few ideas for building bonds…

1. Hilltop Outdoor Centre, Norfolk

Accommodation, outdoor activities with the highest levels of student participation in mind, and all meals provided make Hilltop Outdoor Centre in Sherringham appealing for both its teambuilding exercises and its comfort as a potential first stay away from home location.

A balanced programme can be selected from the many activities available to suit your school’s needs and the demands of the National Curriculum. Best teambuilding exercises include orienteering around the woodland site, crate stacking, and team work challenges.

2. Go Ape Treetop Adventure, various UK locations

Go Ape Treetop Adventure, catering from age six to 12, offers a fun-filled hour of tree-top activities, where students can help each other face their fears on an obstacle course through the heights of the forest. Treetop Adventure Plus is designed especially for Year 7 pupils and goes further into the treetops and includes more challenging crossings. Canopy exploring, trail blazing and getting across obstacles will be on the agenda, and it’s up to each Go Ape participant to aid fellow apes with words of encouragement.

3. Herts Young Mariners Base Outdoor Centre, Hertfordshire

Perfect for engaging in just a single activity, or taking on a multi-activity day out, this outdoor centre located in the Lee Valley Park has a team who can tailor a personal program to suit your specific trip needs.

The centre can accommodate up to 150 people at one time; a multi-activity day can include three activities lasting up to two hours each. Top teambuilding exercises include bush craft, caving, raft building and windsurfing.

4. Longridge Activity Centre, Buckinghamshire

Set in a riverside location near Marlow, Longridge provides a range of exciting water sports and land-based activities including dragon boat racing, and climbing Jacob’s ladder – tall ladder whereby a team will have to make it to the top together with encouragement and physical strength.

School groups can opt for a day trip or a longer stay (camping and bunk-bed accommodation are both available). There are 12 acres of water meadow to explore, plus Taylor Island where teambuilding can go up to a whole other level when pupils partake in a survival experience.

5. PGL Activity Break at Beam House, Devon

Located by a river in a picturesque wooded valley with the sea just a short coach ride away, Beam House offers Year Sevens some great onsite activities as well as beach-based exercises.

Beach games in teams of varied sizes, a challenge course, and initiative exercises (puzzle solving to complete tasks) are all great for some student bonding.

All accommodation is in the main 17th century manor house, and the rooms are large bunk-bedded rooms sleeping between eight and 16 people. Organisers can choose from between two and seven night stays for pupils.

6. Hunt Fun, various UK locations

Treasure hunt specialists Hunt Fun have over 200 treasure hunts for school groups of varying ages. Get your Year Sevens learning outside of the classroom, either in your own local area or a new location - pupils will have to work together as a team to complete the two hour challenge.

Treasure hunts are pre-written and include directions, clues, extra tasks, a map, the answers and a free teacher’s pack.

Hunts can be incorporated into a half or full day trip by stopping off for lunch and/or visiting other educational sites en-route or nearby.

7. Brimstage Maze, Wirral

What’s more bonding than being lost in a maize maze with people you don’t know very well?

Brimstage offers a great day out for Year Sevens, with the maze as an added highlight. Students can take a quiz along their way around the maze to ensure finding their way out by using joint brain power.

Brimstage Maze and featured farm attractions make for a great team building experience which can be combined with educational elements.

A visit can include a tractor and trailer tour of the farm, and onsite learning topics include growing food, hedgerow habitats, the farming year, a day in the life of a farmer, and Maths and mapping on the farm. Tours can be personally tailored to the age of the group visiting and the area of the curriculum you wish to stud