Life Skills Trips

The life skills trips are designed to enhance the learning that takes place in the ASDAN modules. It provides students with the opportunities to practice their skills and acquired knowledge through real life experiences (vital social and communication skills as well as budgeting, organization, planning, etc.). Life skills trips relate to the following:

1. They are goal oriented. The life skills teachers and LSAs develop lesson plans and are guided by educational goals during their life skills trips and excursions.
2. They reflect a theme or idea discussed and taught during one of the modules, e.g. a trip to the fire brigade relates to the community module, or a trip to Tesco to learn about budgeting and daily living, etc. Please click here to follow the link for ongoing projects regarding our Life Skills programme.
3. The trips are student centred. Although the life skills teachers and LSAs prepare the lesson plans and goals, they are there to guide the learning experience and derive their ideas from the experiences the students have as well as their needs.
4. All trips fees are covered by the general Life Skills Fee.

Weekly London Trips

Each Friday, The entire class participates in a trip somewhere in London to practice and use the life skills learned during the week, i.e. transportation, map reading, buying tickets, etc.  In addition to the content of the lessons, life skills students engage in artistic and expressive activities such as photography (black and white pictures, learning to develop pictures, exhibition of pictures at the end of the Fall Term) This essential component to the program insures that students can use the learned skills in context with confidence.  Eventually, students will be responsible for researching local events, galleries, work sites, leisure facilities that they would like to visit. 

Travel & Learn

Our commitment to learning beyond the classroom has inspired us to incorporate Travel and Learn within the Life Skills programme. Travel and Learn allows the students to explore new worlds beyond the confines of a classroom, encouraging them to explore new facets of knowledge, challenge themselves in unfamiliar environments and activities and to increase their self-esteem and belief in their abilities as learners and communicators.

Throughout the year the school organises a variety of trips to various locations throughout the world (add hyperlink to Travel and Learn pages). The students will have the possibility to foster their independence by experiencing life away from home. As these trips are truly inclusive and diverse, the students will have many opportunities to integrate with their social peers.  Specific goals and targets are set by everyone who participates on the T&L excursions.  Everyone enrolled in the Life Skills Program must attend one of the following trips: Argentina, Mexico, Brasil, or Iceland.  (All trips are led by Philip Hurd, Head of School and will be supported by a member of the student support team of ICS).

 Bawdsey

Integrated into our Life Skills curriculum, are the trips to our Suffolk campus, in Bawdsey. Students have many opportunities to interact with their peers while learning to practice skills taught during the ASDAN modules, such as community and personal care.  Home Management skills will be emphasized at our "home away from home" at the Bawdsey residential campus. While students will be expected to practice and use their skills in their own home, the Bawdsey trips will give us an opportunity to assess their independent use of daily home living skills. It is a wonderful chance for the students to exert their self-confidence through socializing and interacting with other students and staff away from their families and daily routines.

Year End Residential Challenge Trip

Each year during the second or third week in June the entire program takes a trip where they complete the ASDAN Toward Independence Residential Challenge Award.  This is the culmination of a year’s preparatory work for each student. Furthermore, students also complete an evidence booklet for the Residential Challenge Award which will allow them to earn this externally moderated and assessed certificate.

'Helping Us Grow" Flower Business (HUG)

We will provide students with as many real life experiences as possible while they are learning and building their skills at the same time. What better way than to teach students responsibility, team work, business and communication skills while running their own business!
 
The 'HUG' flower business involves students in planning how to maintain and grow flowers and plants to be rented to faculty, staff, and administration of Skola. Connecting with people at ICS, other Skola establishments (initially) and other local businesses (eventually) will allow students to practice important social skills and increase their work skills.  All of the business will be run by students in the program giving them many opportunities to work on their ASDAN Life Skills Certificate by using their functional academic skills daily.  This project is in its beginning stages.