ABSTRACT
Years ago the idea of taking students on a residential visit wasn't even considered viable and yet now it forms an integral part of the National Curriculum, helping students develop both personally and academically. The benefits to be derived from residential courses include enhancing social skills and teaching students to interact with their peers outside the 'normal' school environment. Many teachers have acknowledged the difference they have noticed in students from disadvantaged backgrounds on their return from a residential course as they seem so much happier and confident about themselves. For the shy retiring student residential courses can be very character building, encouraging them to explore their inner selves and in doing so learn about and nurture their own abilities, often finding they are able to reach heights they never thought achievable. Surprisingly enough, the school 'pain in the neck' can sometimes be seen in a totally different light in the middle of the countryside endeavouring to be self-sufficient. The circumstances which have brought them together help young people to learn how to interact socially with their peers and can lead to a greater understanding of people's behaviour and why some people act as they do. By the end of the course the students begin to know themselves and others slightly better. Although relationships may be put under strain, this isn't always such a bad thing as it can often make people see others for what they truly are as opposed to what they thought they were.
