The benefits of skiing: at home and trips abroad

Even a year’s most reluctant of students will be wide eyed with wonder when faced with getting sporty in the snow (real or artificial) – so much so they probably won’t even notice just how many hours of intensive exercise they’re doing. Alongside the invaluable health and fitness benefits of skiing, the creation of brand new skills and friendships go hand-in-hand with this non-traditional sport.

Key benefits of skiing for pupils are:

• physical skills and knowledge
• personal and social development
• the opportunity to set and achieve personal goals
• environmental awareness
• health and fitness
• language skills flexed on trips abroad.

The unique qualities of this unconventional sport are that:

• success relies on technique, not how strong or fit a student is
• as an individual rather than a team sport and one that is as much about aesthetics as it is about scoring points or reaching the finishing line, skiing is predominantly non-competitive
• the individual nature of the sport allows students to progress at their own pace
• often, students who have shown little aptitude or interest in conventional PE sports turn out to be talented skiers
• skiing is highly accessible, even to disabled students.

How skiing can support the National Curriculum

• Think outside the box and plan with precision and you will be surprised how the curriculum and snow sports work side by side in matters of physical, sporting, mental and social student development.

• A booklet entitled Skiing and the National Curriculum can be ordered by calling 0121 501 2314.

Introducing a ski programme into your department
Dry slopes (indoor and outdoor) have grown in popularity in the past decade and are used predominantly for skiing and snowboarding. It’s highly likely that there will be a dry slope close to your school or at least a short coach ride away. Due to a downturn in visitors during school hours, most snow centres encourage group visits from students. 

Click here to locate your nearest artificial slope

Awards
The UK Snowsport Awards are a series of 11 fun awards that mark a student’s progression from intermediate level. To find out more about registering to host the Awards, you will need to contact your local slope. 

Compete
As well as being energetic and exciting, if there is enough interest locally or within the wider region, your school might like to take part in inter-schools competitions. If your school is ski-active, the best way to adopt a competitive edge is to join the English Schools Ski Association (ESSKIA) who can put your department in contact with other pro-ski schools. The Association is also responsible for the regional and England school squads – ideal if you have a slope star in your midst. ESSKIA races are team races. Teams are made up of four skiers all of whom must be pupils at the same school.

• Age group championships There are separate categories for girls’ and boys’ teams in each of four age groups – under 12, under 14, under 16 and under 19. There is also a category for mixed teams which has a more limited age range.
• Open championship This is for girls’ and boys’ teams and is open to pupils of any age. The Open Championship acts as the qualifying race for the British Schools’ Artificial Slope Championships, hosted in turn by England, Scotland and Wales.

For further information regarding ESSKIA races please contact the race secretary Gillian Gilyead on 01582 831997.

Training for teachers
Snowsport England offers two unique opportunities for teachers to train to be snowsports course organisers (SCO) and Alpine ski course leaders (ASCL). The former takes only six hours to complete and can be taken at various locations across the country. The latter typically involves six days of training completed at a foreign resort and applicants must be qualified first aiders who have several weeks’ ski experience and have already completed the SCO course. Click here for further information on teacher ski training

How to bring a little snowlife into your school
Snowlife is an industry-funded information source for UK snowsport who are extremely active in encouraging young people to take to the slopes and get fit. Last year, the ‘Snowlife Ride & Slide Tour’ visited over 16 schools around the UK bringing the thrill of the slopes to 7,500 children. One thing’s for sure – if you invite the Snowlife Ride & Tour into your school, your children won’t be bored. This isn’t about PowerPoint presentations and dry paper handouts; think a video show, fashion catwalk, Q&A session, equipment displays, trampoline demonstration, product sampling and giveaways. And, perhaps the most important part, the chance to win a free ski lesson by taking part in a quiz.

The tour has been instrumental in introducing students to the basics of skiing and outdoor mountain safety, helping them understand the link between their personal sporting development and other school studies and encouraging them to explore career options within the winter sports arena.

If you’re interested in being considered for a visit by the Snowlife Team call Matt Walder on 01273 620877 or Joanne Brown 01273 687788 at Soul Sports Events Ltd.

Home and away
While the dry slopes of home create smiles, imagine what a trip to France or Italy could do for student enthusiasm levels. Skiing trips not only act as great activity holidays, encouraging kids to stay fit and healthy, they are the perfect opportunity for students to gain independence, experience life away from home, face new challenges, break outside of their sporting safety zone in a safe environment and bond with fellow school skiers.  What’s more, they get to do it in areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Key considerations of the early planning stage include:

• Before perusing the snow-capped brochures, permission must be sought from the head of school, school governors and your LEA. It is likely that the latter will have published guidelines for outdoor education (which include a section on skiing) and you will have to fill out a number of forms and provide information on essential areas such as risk assessments, safety regulations and insurance cover.

• The DCSF publishes an invaluable booklet entitled Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits as well as a three-part supplement Standards for LEAs in Overseeing Educational Visits, Standards for Adventure and Handbook for Group Leaders.

• Early planning is essential, especially since the popularity of holidays increases and residential snow schools get booked up early. It is recommended that you pick up brochures 18 months in advance and start the actual planning at least 15 months before preferred departure date.

• To book during term time is advisable due to lower off-peak prices and to avoid queues on slopes and instructors being tied up with a large number of other learners. Easter, summer, winter and half-term breaks are typically busy periods and preferably avoided.

• Choosing the right ski holiday operator is crucial. Snowlife provide a list of operators who host school groups. However, they are not recommendations and it is essential that you check a company’s credibility before booking and ensure that they are members of a travel body such as ABTA, IATO or ATOL.

Remember to ensure the resort and the courses it offers are suited to the skills level of the students who will be attending. Many operators offer to visit the school to relay information to and allay any concerns of pupils, teachers and parents. Some will even carry out risk assessments too, which can free you up to work on another area of planning.

Safety checklist
Before packing the skis and doing your pre-coach student headcount, ensure that each of the points in the safety checklist below has been ticked off:

• Insurance – ensure that there is sufficient winter sports insurance cover in place before travel.
• Passports – many countries outside of Europe do not recognise collective passports. Do all students and teachers possess a valid passport?
• Staff – is the trip’s staff to student ratio adequate to ensure constant supervision?
• Accommodation – make sure rooms adhere to British fire safety regulations.
• Meals – ask parents before booking the trip whether or not their child is allergic to certain foods or has any special dietary requirements.
• Instruction – do the instructors on the resort hold qualifications recognised in the UK? Will students be supervised by a qualified member of staff once the formal lessons have finished and they ski off to enjoy some solo practice?
• Clothing – helmets are compulsory for under-13s while on the slopes. The snow may be cold but the sun is shining – ask parents to pack sun protection for their children. Remember, parents need not break the bank to clothe a winter sports kid, most ski shops hire clothing out and it may be worthwhile looking into purchasing second-hand for the department and then recycling for future trips.
• Information – supply parents/guardians with essential information such as medical cover and insurance details, resort address and staff names and numbers before departure. You should ensure that parents supply either yourself or another member of staff joining the trip with information such as emergency contacts, written details of any medical conditions or medicines that need administrating whileaway, allergies andcontact information ofthe student’s GP. 

Find out more

• Planning an Educational Visit – a booklet produced by the School Travel Forum
• Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits - free downloadable guide
• Skiing and the National Curriculum - available free from Snowsport England, Tel: 0121 501 2314
• English Schools Ski Association, Tel: 01922 857030 
• Snowlife 
• Disability Snowsport - For advice, support and training to help people with a wide variety of disabilities to experience snowsports.

The following operators specialise in school ski trips:

• Interski  01623 456333
• Neilson School Groups  08703 333620
• PGL Travel   0870 162 6622
• The International Academy  02920 672500
• Activ4 0870 2406348

This list is not exhaustive: visit the Snowlife directory for further options.

This article first appeared in PE & Sport Today - December 2007