Learning Experience

Student Leadership Camps & Best school trips in Switzerland

We work with students from the world’s top schools to help unlock their potential through our school workshops, school camps and school field trips throughout the academic year, summer and winter camps in Switzerland and France and student conferences worldwide.

We bring the best of our successful camps and student conferences to our bespoke school programmes. Developed from the SILC framework in partnership with leading schools around the world, all workshops are designed in such a way that students learn while participating in amazing games, challenges and outdoor activities fully integrated with ongoing learning objectives from your school curriculum, thereby fully integrating our programme into students’ prior and current learning experiences.

Our multi-day Swiss Student Leadership Camp is a constructive and fun school trip known as the absolute pinnacle of leadership development for primary, middle and high school students. At the Swiss Leadership Camp we combine a selection of leadership modules with outdoor adventures at our beautiful campuses in the heart of the Gstaad Valley in Switzerland.

The SILC approach

Most young people are naturally curious and have a built-in desire to learn first-hand about the world around them and this is most strongly stimulated when given the chance to do so in a fun, engaging and practical way. Therefore, we place great emphasis on experiential learning as a result. Playing games, completing activities, exploring unique field trips and experiencing simulations offers students the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in a real-world setting.

Our approach is all about gaining self-knowledge and expanding horizons through stimulating and exciting outdoors and team challenges which students face equipped with the right tools and insights gained from hands-on experiences and from our team of talented trainers. They learn to set goals and prioritise, optimise their actions, communicate and manage conflicts while having tremendous fun and connecting to nature, to new friends and ultimately to themselves.

International Curriculum

A unique and robust leadership curriculum developed through many years of experience working with leading international, American, British, Swiss and IB accredited schools around the world.

The SILC curriculum is an internationally recognised and pedagogically aligned syllabus developed over many years by our experienced team of educators in partnership with the finest schools from around the world.

Our camp remains one of the premier destinations for worldwide schools on field trips, whether as a standalone program over a short period of time or as part of broader school initiatives such as Week Without Walls. We are also happy to tailor our leadership modules to the school CAS, TOK or STEM programmes, or other initiatives.

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

We distinguish ourselves by designing and implementing leadership programmes that are characterized as fun-filled experiences with extensive feedback, reflection and evaluations, focused on developing team and leadership skills through a wide range of experiential outdoor activities, aligned with the school curriculum and values.

With a powerful hands-on learning experience combining leadership training with exciting activities and school field trips available all year round, we offer a blend of thrilling outdoors activities, purpose-designed team challenges and leadership sessions resulting in a memorable but also truly transformative experience for students aged 7-18.

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE & PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Our students are invited, encouraged, and challenged to develop their leadership skills throughout all activities, expeditions, and games.

Every day students participate in a short workshop introducing an important leadership skill. They then practice that skill throughout the day’s activities and games as part of an experiential learning process in the outdoors.

All workshops are highly interactive, are delivered by educational experts and include dynamic presentations, games, and team reflection. So no dull classroom moments, but learning while doing!

We help students learn to take responsibility, reflect and evaluate for themselves. As senior trainers, we work around the clock to share feedback on what was learned and how to apply those skills and competencies both at camp and in daily life back home.

Methodology: Learning by Doing

We present a programme integrating essential leadership skills like goal setting, communication skills, teamwork, global citizenship and sustainability. Participants learn while doing and self evaluate after every activity, which are filled with adventures, self-discovery, fun! Additionally, students can use these leadership skills to develop their personal action plans to help them accomplish their goals during the camp and beyond.

Learning by doing offers a personal experience. We believe in giving students an experience to remember, and learning by doing through games, activities and real-world simulation. Your school can choose which outdoor activities and leadership topics they find more apt and would like to include in the programme.

We believe that alignment with a school’s curriculum is essential to designing any effective student leadership programme. Based on your school preferences as per preferred dates, group size, grades and relevant leadership topics, our programme offers participants the opportunity to enhance their learning and the development of relevant 21st century skills with educational workshops focused on goal setting, decision making, time management, planning, optimisation and communication skills, combined with fun team games and challenges with experiential learning experiences where students practice those skills.

The whole programme is provided by a multidisciplinary team of senior trainers that provide personal feedback and reflection sessions after each activity on how to implement improvements and insights for meaningful practical actions in an interactive and inspiring way.

Our trainers connect with each student individually, providing personal insight and helping students to develop self-reflection and resilience. Throughout the experience, our students are encouraged to identify personal goals and make a commitment to accomplish these during their academic, sporting and daily lives, resulting in a Personal Action Plan – a tool which has proved to have a significant and positive impact on child development.

Certificate and Personal Action Plans

At the end to the Swiss Leadership Camp, students work on their Personal Action Plans where they can choose their modules of choice, tailoring to what is most relevant to them focusing on goal setting, time management, constructive routines, communication skills, conflict management, communication and presentation techniques, teamwork, talent development and well-being, turning each leadership topic into practical application for their daily lives.

Students walk away with the ability to translate these skills into tangible plans that support their personal, social and academic needs. The memories and anecdotes that arise from these activities will also prove invaluable when it comes to team bonding and cohesion between the students, school staff, leadership clubs and advisory groups.

Learn more about the SILC world of learning

SILC Academy