DFSC

DFSC
Bristol CC Outdoor Education Centre situated in the village of Parkend in The Forest of Dean

Thursday 10 December 2015

DFSC Early Winter Update


Coracle Building & Relay Racing is a new activity we introduced this year, but it has certainly now got too cold for what you will see in the following 2 minute video!:



 
The lawn mowers are now locked away for the Winter and we've got the Christmas decorations up:



We are presently in the process of changing all of the Main Centre lights to LEDs to save energy. We are also installing PIR sensors in many areas so that they switch on and off automatically.



The Garden Room now has some new disco lights for those last evening discos and karaoke/talent shows. Also great for our outside groups booking parties.



At this time of year the garden lights have also been useful when finishing afternoon sessions as it gets dark


Some of them act as feature lighting that can change colour, like the ones illuminating our bamboo




The Roundhouse has also had it's Christmas makeover with fairy lights to brighten it up inside and out




Meanwhile the Common Room now has 2 new table football machines and a new air hockey machine. All 3 are durable arcade quality machines




The Air Hockey is proving particularly popular with students when they have a few spare minutes




We have more purchases planned for the Common Room/Games Room. Watch this space...







Friday 11 September 2015

Early Autumn 2015 Update

We were so busy over the summer that we didn't manage to do a Blog Update! So here's an update of some of the things that have been happening.


Our new archery range has proved to be a great success and we hope more of our existing schools will add this activity to their programme.


This summer saw us running a lot more Bushcraft sessions which were also very well received. 


Groups started fires using flint/steel and charcloth and then cooked dampers (made to Jane's secret recipe) on the fire.


Click on the short video below to see how tasty they were!

 

Here's another fun little video of one of our Summer groups mountain biking. You can tell that Ian, the Centre Manager got a new video camera for Christmas!


We have also hosted several parties over the weekends in the Summer. The Garden Room and it's deck makes an excellent venue for such occasions. We have even hosted a wedding reception! Pictures to hopefully follow in a later Blog post.






A couple of groups have also camped on the new lawn as part of a party weekend.


One group even hired in a hot tub that we sited for them!


Of course the tunnels were also hired


 and we also ran a High Challenge session for them


You know where to book you next big party weekend!


Wednesday 20 May 2015

DFSC Spring 2015 Update


Spring came early to DFSC and the lambs are already getting fat

 
The Bluebells were once again fantastic in the forest and the Centre grounds are fragranced with wild garlic


Our nest boxes are full of bluetit chicks once again and the parents are busy feeding them


Our centre garden was looking like the Somme before Easter!
 

It has now transformed into a lush lawn ready for enjoying some new activities that are in the pipeline
 

New steps access the lawn and an alcove to one side will shortly be transormed into a new archery range


Inside the house we now have Wifi! This is coded so that visiting staff have access but so that it can be restricted from students.


Staff can also keep in touch via the internet using the staff computers in the lounge


We have now installed a data projector and sound system in the lounge so that audio visual presentations & DVD's can be viewed
 
Lots more developments are planned for the Summer...

Monday 23 February 2015

DFSC Winter 2015 Update


We've bought some new toys for the Common Room to keep our guests amused in those spare moments:

 

 The Common Room has also been completely repainted and had new lights fitted


We've also been upgrading all staff bedrooms to include more powerpoints to charge up all those mobile devices you bring!


A new sink in Staff Bedroom 21:
 

Our new 2 day First Aid in the Outdoors Course, which we run every January, now includes First Aid outdoors in the dark!: 


...and resuscitation practice on babies too:


The big change for 2015 will be new landscaping in the Centre Grounds


We have created a large new open space which will be laid to lawn. There is 20 tons of stone chip drainage channels in it


The new area will allow Camping, an Archery Range, Volley Ball Court and Problem Solving Challenges 


This is being made wheelchair and buggy accessible and will also feature nighttime lighting. We'll post more photos once the grass seed grows and it's no longer mud! In the meantime please accept our apologies for any inconvenience while the landscaping work continues.
 
  

 While we were churning the ground up with diggers we also did some maintenance work on our High Challenge Course: