PARENTS EVENING - Information leaflet text

Sauze D’Oulx Feb 2015 – FAQ’s for Students and Parents

BEFORE YOU GO

What do I need to pack?

ONE MEDIUM ‘HOLD’ BAG ONLY! – Two years ago we had the unfortunate task of unloading 10 monster suit cases and bags and compressing them into black bin bags due to students thinking ‘it won’t matter if its only me who takes a big bag’.  THEY WON’T FIT IN!  Mr Deans will demonstrate what a medium bag looks like on the Ski Presentation Evening.

In the bag you will need:

• All the obvious stuff – clothes, wash bag, etc!
• Advice on ‘going out clothes’.  Most of the evening activities will take place away from the hotel and involve us walking about outside to get to venues.  The temperature can drop to
  -20C in the evening.  Please consider this – you will not be heading out for night on the town in West Bridgford at 10C – and will be expected to dress appropriately.
• At least one towel – the hotel did provide towels last year but they were so old, grey and rough that they actually repelled rather than soaked up water.
• Ski gear – we recommend you put these items in your hold bag:
• Salopettes – waterproof and insulated.
• Thermal Underwear set or long sleeve t-shirts & Track suit trousers.
• Ski Socks (minimum 3 pairs).
• Ski Gloves –waterproof and insulated.
• Goggles AND Sun Glasses (You NEED both – goggles and glasses – without goggles it is impossible to ski in even the smallest dusting of a snowfall and when the sun is hot even the best goggles constantly fog up).
• Factor 50+ Sun Block.
• Lip Sun Block – so your lips don’t turn in to large, red, agonising bananas.
• Fleece Jumper (s).

Your SMALL Carry-On ‘Coach’ Bag

·         Entertainment!  It’s a 24 hour journey so feel free to bring iPods (no external speakers on the coach please – while you may love your ‘Peruvian Nose-Flute/ Jamaican Dance Hall Mash Up’ everybody else may hate it) , tablets, games etc. but YOU are responsible for this equipment and any subsequent communications with the insurance firm and claims for damages, loss etc.  You could even bring a book!
The coach will have a DVD player so if you have a favourite film that EVERYBODY will enjoy please feel free to bring it for all our onboard entertainment.  Think ‘Coach Appropriate’. Mr Deans will be bringing ‘The Italian Job’ and his current number 1 film ‘Pitch Perfect’ (Aca-Mazing!)

·         Pillow/ Travel Pillow – Self-explanatory

·         Food/Drink – we will stop regularly at service stations but recommend you bring a reasonable quantity of sandwiches/ crisps etc. Mr Whitmarshs wife packs him half a cow in burrito wraps.

·         Medications – Do not let your-self be separated from any essential medication.  If you need travel sickness pills – take them!

·         Ski Coat (waterproof and insulated) and Hat – Save space in the hold and be prepared for bad weather on the trip.

Ski Clothing Hire – After years of using a Yorkshire based firm we now work with the East Leake based ‘Love and Piste’.  They provide money off vouchers for the hire of coats and salopettes.

HELMETS

Helmets are an essential safety item.  The school has made the decision that the wearing of helmets is mandatory (as mentioned when you first signed up to the trip).  There are always one or two ‘do we have to’ comments every year and then the same amount of ‘I’m really glad I had a helmet on’ comments at the end of the holiday after getting bashing head first into the ground at high velocity. Also all the young hip-cats wear helmets which describes us exactly.  The Via Lattea area have made the wearing of helmets a requirement for those under 18.

HERE WE GO!

When are we going?

We will leave school on Friday 13^th February at 18:15.  The bus will arrive at 17:30 to start loading up.

We will arrive back on Saturday 21st February at approximately 13;45.  This is the time given to us by ski firm – Invariably the coach drivers go into warp drive on the way home and we arrive 1-2 hours earlier. You will receive live updates by Parentmail of our progress up the M1. Please ensure your mobile # is correct.

Where are we actually going???

We will be based just outside a town called Sauze D’Oulx which is located in the ‘Via Lattea’ ski area of NW Italy.  It is right on the border of France and the faster groups may even go over the border at some point in the week.  If you are looking on a map draw a line between Grenoble and Turin and right in the middle of the line is Sauze D’Oulx.

The Hotel is called ‘Park Hotel Gran Bosco'.  You can follow links in the blog to view the hotel and rooms.

What will happen when we arrive?

After unloading rooms will be assigned and keys given out (Room allocations will be decided before we leave). 

Saturday night is ‘ski-fit’ night.  We will get fed by the hotel then head down the road to be fitted with Ski’s, Boots and Poles.  The Hire Centre is in Sauze D’Oulx itself. It’s a tiny little shop so only 8 people can go at a time.

The shop will have all your heights, weights, foot sizes so this should be a reasonably efficient process.

What happens during the day time?

• An early start!  Breakfast could be as early as 7.00 am.
• Collect Ski gear and ready to go by 8.15am.
• Initially we will take the coach to Sauze D’Oulx which takes around 5 mins.  As the week progresses however we may be able to ski back to the hotel.
• You have paid for 5 hours of skiing per day and will be with your instructor throughout this time.  Such is the nature of insurance YOU CANNOT SKI WITHOUT THE INSTRUCTOR AT ANY TIME WHATSOEVER.  This is a very serious point and students MUST observe this rule.  If you fell and broke a leg without an instructor in attendance and got landed with a £200,000 medical bill, YOU (meaning your parents) will be expected to pay it. 
• We have hot food booked for lunch in a restaurant shared with real people!  This is a rare treat and first time we have had this in 20 years I’ve been running school trips. We normally have packed lunch on the mountain.

What happens in the evenings?

After getting back from the days skiing there will be free time before and after the evening meal.  We are lucky enough to have had wonderful food at all the hotels we have stayed at over the years and expect this to be repeated at the Hotel Gram Bosco.  If you have special dietary requirements please make sure this is included on the EV4.

  The evening entertainment programme usually kicks off around 7.30pm and is still TBC but at the moment (in no order) looks like being:

• Outdoor Ice Skating (using the traditional Apline method of spraying a tennis court with a hose pipe)
• Pizza Night
• Quiz Night
• Bowling
• Presentation Evening

Three of these activities will cost money and a small surcharge (5-10 Euros) may need to be collected in the resort to cover these.

While discussing evening activities it would be sensible to ask…

Can I drink alcohol?

• In 2012 the legal drinking age in Italy was raised to 18.  As this is a new law it is being strictly enforced by bars and hotels and serving alcohol to minors is a criminal offense which can be punished by up to 1 year in prison!!!
• Nottinghamshire LEA and all Teaching Trade Unions recommend that NO alcohol is consumed on school trips irrespective of age. However we have allowed our 18 year olds to drink a glass of wine or a beer during ‘Apres-ski’ events or when circumstances allow.  This is a privilege that will be removed if it is ever flaunted or abused.
• Breaking the rules over drinking alcohol (or consuming any narcotics) will be punished by the removal of ski privileges for the remaining days of the trip.
• We will go into your room and search your belongings if we are in any way suspicious.
• We always find out, we always follow this line.

Can I smoke?

·         New anti-smoking laws came into force in Italy in 2009. It is illegal for anybody under the age of 18 to smoke.  There is an outright ban on smoking in public places.

Miscellaneous Questions asked in the past

Will it snow? (Classic Question 1)

• I certainly hope so!  The ski area extends to over 2800m which gets VERY cold. You can join Mr Deans in obsessively monitoring the snow conditions at the resort by putting:
  http://www.sauzeonline.com/sauze-doulx-webcam/ in your browser favourites and watching the live snow-report and web-cams!
  
  

Will it be cold? (Classic Question 2)

• Yes, but just how cold is hard to predict.  In Italy four years ago we had mornings at
  -19⁰C + the wind-chill taking the temperature down to -28⁰C which shut down all but the bottom 1/3 of the resort.  Local police were checking skiers gear before letting them on the lifts to ensure they weren't putting themselves in danger by going up the mountain! Last year in Austria everybody skied the afternoon session in t-shirts and sun-glasses, and sun-bathed at lunch, despite it being -4⁰C in the morning.

Are we there yet? (Classic Question 3)

• NO! – Mr Deans will issue maps when we get on the continent so you can follow our route down through France and work it out yourselves! Every time you ask ‘how long’ the standard response is ’10 minutes’ even if we are on the M25.

Can my parents contact me?

• A school ‘trip’ mobile will be on Mr Deans at all times - 07584228301.  Feel free to ring with any problems but be aware he may be skiing at break-neck speed and be unable to answer until the evening. I will check texts the next time I get on a lift however so for genuine emergencies during the day texts can often get a faster response. Parents should feel free to contact me via m.deans@wbs.eu.com before we depart.

Does the hotel have Wi-Fi?

• Very limited Wi-Fi, that you have to pay for, and then only in the foyer for general use.  Often the hotel withholds the wi-fi password from school groups as it jams the bandwidth for the rest of the hotel when every student starts Skyping home at 7.00pm.
  
  

Who do I share a room with?

• As much as possible we leave room allocation up to the students.  The rooms are for 2-3 beds each and we will arrange a meeting the week before we leave to sort rooming out. We have occasional problems, where the maths just doesn’t work, that require friends to be split.  We ask students to be mature and understanding about this.  The room is used for sleeping and not a lot else.