JF
John F
TA
★★★★★
Had a great time with my family for my Mum’s 60th birthday. We did coasteering with Stu and Matt who were great instructors
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Outdoor Activity Instructor Training
If you are looking for a new career path in outdoor activities or you just want to gain more instructor certificates to help you gain employment in activity centres around the UK and abroad, then Era Adventures run an intensive four week outdoor instructor training programme from our base in Cornwall, perfect to get you steering your career in the right direction into the great outdoors.
Course Overview
Our outdoor activity instructor course runs over a four week period. In the time you spend on the course you’ll gain five valuable qualifications both on land and in the sea. Key activities include mountain bike trail leader, beach lifeguarding, surf coaching and advanced first aid qualifications too. All of the awards and qualifications you will receive are fully certified by relevant national organisations and bodies leading to certified qualifications form NGB’s and taught by qualified instructors.
Having undertaken all the necessary training on our programme, you’ll have a final competency test and assessment in order to gain all of the qualifications you need to enhance or kick start a new career as an outdoor activity instructor.
Provisional schedule of training
Our outdoor activities instructor courses vary slightly in timing, but generally, the structure follows the below schedule. You can find out more information about each of the individual courses on their respective training and qualification pages on our website.
Week 1: Mountain Bike Trail Leader Award
In the first week of this programme, you’ll undertake the CTC-recognised mountain bike trail leader qualification, which covers a range of essential and fundamental skills required to get you competently, safely and confidently leading groups on mountain bike trails of all levels and conditions. You’ll not only learn to lead a group safely but also enable them to learn a variety of basic MTB skills and become more independent on two wheels.
Week 2: RLSS Beach Lifeguard & Advanced First Aid
We deliver the training for the (ILS) internationally recognised RLSS beach lifeguard award in this week plus your advanced first aid training. The Advanced First Aid course is a specialist first aid course, which is relevant to all involved in extreme activities and sports. It teaches how to treat relevant sports injuries and resuscitate sportsmen and women who are knocked unconscious whilst in action.
Week 3: ISA Surf Coach Level 1 or ISA Surf Coach Level 2
In week 3 you’ll undertake either your level 1 or 2 ISA internationally recognised surf coach course. The course covers all aspects of surf education including surf safety, surfing & coaching techniques along with group management. There are prerequisite qualifications you’ll need to undertake these courses, and you can find out more on our surf coach page.
Week 4: SLSGB Coasteer Instructors Award & In-house competency test
In your final week, you’ll train to gain your coaster instructors award and undertake your final in-house competency tests to ensure you can qualify for all 5 of the awards as part of the programme. The coasteering instructors award creates a level of competence in life-saving for incidents involved in coasteering including fitness tests, basic life support, lifeguard skills, knowledge and rescue.
Contact Us
Era Adventures
Polzeath
Wadebridge
Cornwall PL27 6SS
Tel/Fax: 01208 862 963
Email: info@era-adventures.co.uk
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the course best suited to?
Most importantly, you’ ve got to have a great love for the outdoors, as you’re going to be seeing a heck of a lot of it!
This course is open to over 18’s and best suited to those who have a fair amount of experience in at least one or two of the disciplines that’ll be undertaken. A good level of fitness and swimming ability (to swim 100metres without trouble) is also required.
Specific sections of this programme, particularly the lifeguarding, have certain prerequisites. So it’s best to give us a call if you’re uncertain of your suitability to this course.
You’ll learn a lot of technical skills, but also soft ones too to enable you to lead a group safely and efficiently, so you should really enjoy enabling and motivating people and have a lot of energy to give!
Are all the awards fully certified?
Yes, all of the qualifications you will receive at the end of this instructor programme are nationally or internationally recognised and accredited by top NGB governing bodies including CTC, SLSGB and the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority amongst others.
What can I do with these qualifications?
Successful candidates will then put themselves in a very strong position for immediate employment as an outdoor activity instructor here in the UK. If you already have a career in place, then this course will help you enhance your qualification spectrum and move into a more diverse position easily.
Finding employment as an outdoor activity instructor without these recognised qualifications won’t be easy.
Will I be fully certified to work abroad?
Some of these courses are internationally recognised, and subject to visas, there is no reason you can’t take these new skills to a different country to teach, lead and train outdoors.
Where is the training undertaken?
We’re fortunate to be well positioned to undertake all the necessary training to receive your qualifications on our beautiful Cornish doorstep! Whilst the training is undertaken in a variety of locations to ensure you get the best possible experience, travel between spots, coastlines and forest trails is limited to the local area. There’s also some class room based training which takes place at our base in Cornwall too. So you wont be wasting to much time between sessions too-ing and fro-iong!
What if I only want to do one or two modules?
If you’re only interested in a couple of modules of this course, just give us a call or have a look through our independent courses that we run for varying outdoor training awards and first aid qualifications on our website. We can tailor a package better for you in you would like ot mix and match different elements. Just give us a call!
How much of the course is class room based versus outdoors?
There is a certain amount of theory based work for all of these qualifications, but the vast majority, you’ll be pleased to hear is out in the great outdoors!
Do I need to bring my own kit and equipment for the course?
We’ll provide all the activity and safety equipment you could need for this course. If you have your own and would like to bring it along, you’re more than welcome. Make sure you bring some good quality and durable outdoor activity gear to suit the weather to wear either under or after your day outdoors.
How large are the classes?
We want to ensure you get as much support and training as you need form your instructors, so never have more than 12 participants on the course at any time.
Is there an exam as part of the end of programme assessment?
There is a competency assessment at the end of this course in the final week, though it’s not a full blown written exam. Basic literacy will suffice as your technical, soft and safety awareness skills are whats really being assessed.
Where do we stay during the course?
We run the programme from the stunning 12 sleeper self-catering Water Ends House in Watergate Bay, perched on some of North West Cornwall’s most breathing stretches of golden sandy beaches. You can find out more about the accommodation on the website The Waters End here.
Is food and drink included in the accommodation?
No, the accommodation is self-catering, with a huge, stunning and fully kitted out kitchen (check out the photos on the website) so you’ll be able to rustle up a serious feast with other candidates on the course with ease. There are plenty of local eateries too for you to take advantage of whilst your’e in the area.
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