Our team have been working tirelessly to provide excellent service at Braeside House and we are so happy that our guests notice our efforts.
Winterbourne Earls thank you so much for this lovely feedback!
“As a school we have been to Braeside for our Year 6 Residential Trip every year for ages! I have personally been running the trip for the last 5 years. I have worked in other schools and have led residential trips to plenty of other providers and also run a Year 4 two-day residential to the Jurassic Coast staying in a YHA. I have also run several boarding houses, therefore, I do have experience of several other centres too to bench mark my opinions and I am quite particular!
I have found that Braeside is exceptional. It has undergone many changes over the years as it has changed hands and CoVID has brought about further changes. HOWEVER the provision of education, fostering the love of the outdoors and the holistic growth of the children is at the centre of everything they do. As a centre they are keen to grow and learn too meaning that they are forever improving things.
The current staff are exceptional. All of the instructors have great skill and every activity is well planned, safely run by qualified instructors (all risk assessments are always available on their website). They are able to adapt any task to the individual needs, anxieties of the individual by interacting with each pupil and intervene at their point of need as well as anticipating what would help them. Their understanding of the complex needs of some children is always evident as they are keen to know how they can best help- often we come away with ideas of how to help those ‘tricky’ children as a result of their insight into their difficulties. We have never taken children with significant disabilities away with us but have had one who had hip surgery 3 months prior to our trip, one with heart conditions, one with epipen etc. Obviously, we did our own thorough risk assessments and knew the individual children’s capabilities. The staff helped us ‘adjust’ as needed eg car meeting us half way on the hike to return a child with one of our members of staff. Indeed, this flexibility is always there, so if unforeseen issues arise whilst we are away they are more than keen and able to help us find a good solution.
In our week we do: Kayaking, Climbing wall, Leap of Faith, Nightline, Survival Day, Roundway Down Hike, Low Ropes Course, Problem Solving and Market Challenge or Food for Thought. This has been the absolutely perfect mix of activities. The evening activities can be adapted to your needs. We do: the Bouldering Room, The Nightline (my particular favourite as the pupils learn so much about themselves, interacting with others and resilience!), DT / STEM challenge/ Campfire night (that stays in all their memories forever!) and orienteering.
The residential building, catering and site are all fantastic. The bathrooms are all newly refurbished and the Housekeeping Team keep a wonderfully clean organised and well-looked after site. The staff accommodation has also been recently updated meaning that the staff sleeping rooms are all en-suite and are well spaced throughout the floors ensuring that pupils can access them easily in the night if needed.
The food is fantastic- no one is hungry! The kitchen staff produce an excellent variety of food (several choices for every meal). Braeside send the menu in advance for us to check and they are more than happy to adapt it. They cater for all our pupils’ allergies etc. In the past year we have taken several children with particularly taxing dietary requirements which the team responded to thoroughly and made it not a problem. This really helped me as the Lead Teacher!
The grounds of Braeside are wonderful and the safety of the property for the pupil is thorough. There is a great, secure perimeter fence, the front gate of which gets locked at night. This means that the pupils can enjoy the freedom that a visit to Braeside gives them.
I have no hesitation of recommending Braeside whole heartedly- it is a truly wonderful centre for Year 6 pupils.”
Helen (Year 6 Teacher, SMT, Residential Trip Leader)
Braeside 
Braeside
