Château du Baffy Competition Winner Announced

The transformative and positive impact a quality residential trip abroad can have on students and teachers within a school is well documented. It’s especially well highlighted by the Learning Away campaign for ‘Brilliant Residentials’ which sites the benefits in attainment, engagements, relationships and confidence. With schools and families being squeezed with their budgets, Select want to lead the way so that students from less privileged backgrounds can also benefit from the opportunity of experiencing a great residential school trip abroad.

We are so pleased to have received such fantastic entries for our competition to win a free trip to the Château du Baffy in Normandy in September. We didn’t envy our judges, Elaine Skates (CLOtC) and Rob Yandell (School Travel Organiser) in narrowing down the list – all the schools gave brilliant reasons for how they would make the most of the trip, along with the benefits it would afford them. It was clear in some entries that the experience of the residential would motivate the children to further their education in a way that lessons in school could not. Quite frankly, we would love to send all the schools that sent an entry! But in the end only one school could be chosen...

Congratulations to our competition winner Sir Frederic Osborn School, Welwyn, sent by Mr Broad.

All the entries demonstrated important aspects of the social and financial issues encountered in taking a school trip abroad, so the judges felt it was important to look beyond that into the type of learning that might be gained from the trip, and how much that had been considered. The judges were impressed by the desire of Sir Frederic Osborn School to offer a multi-subject trip covering History, Geography, French and RE, and the fact that this trip would fill a gap in what is offered; in this case, a residential for KS3 pupils. The school also mentioned learning back in school following the trip, which the judges felt was a key factor in making the most of the opportunity.

We very much look forward to taking the lucky students to the château, and hearing all about their experience!