- This safe school group accommodation in France is only open to our groups, providing reassurance to teachers and parents
- We can accommodate year groups of up to 250 students
- Dedicated on-centre Group Co-ordinator for each group to ensure the smooth-running of your educational tour, acting as all-round support for your group
Château d'Ebblinghem
Inspected as part of our Safety Management System
Our exclusive school group accommodation on the Opal Coast in Northern France
Château d’Ebblinghem is ideal for school groups being set in a rural location just 8km east of St Omer on the Opal Coast in northern France, and just 45 minutes from the Channel ports.
The centre has four buildings designed with school groups in mind all accommodating student and teacher rooms together alongside dedicated dining and teacher areas. Sole-occupancy options are available so your group can take over a whole building!
Where to find Château d'Ebblinghem
1934 Rte nationale, 59173 Ebblinghem, France.
Ideally positioned for a range of subject trips, including French Language Enrichment trips & WWI Battlefield school trips
Do you cater for special dietary requirements?
Yes, we offer a variety of options to accommodate most diets, including gluten-free and dairy-free. All allergens are clearly listed on the menu board, and if you have any specific dietary needs, we’re happy to prepare special dishes upon request.
Does the accommodation have disabled access?
Gareyne Building: Full ground floor disabled access with walk-in showers.
Caserne Building: One disabled access room per floor with lift access.
What safety measures are in place at Château d'Ebblinghem?
We have a huge emphasis on safety, starting with the recruitment of our staff and continuing through to all of our activities. As a founder member of BAPA (British Activity Providers Association) and a licence holder for activities in scope of AALA (Adventure Activities Licencing Authority) regulations, we make safety our priority.
A risk assessment has also been carried out at Château d'Ebbinghem, with risks being outlined and managed. The risk assessment covers the grounds of Château d'Ebblinghem, as well as all of the activities available at the centre.
Our Group Co-ordinators are experts in their area, trained and assessed both in-house and by external assessors. They’ll be there during every activity to make sure they’re completed safely and correctly.
New staff complete a comprehensive induction and job specific training followed by regular observations, feedback, reviews and assessments.
Facilities Available at Château d'Ebblinghem
There are four separate buildings at our château, each designed to accommodate student and teacher en-suite bedrooms together, with dedicated teacher and dining areas too.
Dining area
Located in your building and exclusive to your group, area can be used for recreational activities too.
Depending on your group size you may share the La Caserne dining area with another school group.
Dedicated teachers’ lounge
The ideal place to relax at the end of a long day
Tea & coffee making facilities
Complimentary wine & cheese each evening
Free WiFi
Le Manoir
Student rooms: 1 x 6 single beds, 2 x 5 single beds, 9 x 4 beds (2 bunk beds)
Teacher rooms: 3 x 2 single beds
All bedrooms are en-suite
La Gareyne
Students rooms : 13 x 4 beds (2 bunk beds)
Teacher rooms: 3 x 2 single beds
All bedrooms are en-suite
La Caserne
Students rooms: 18 x 4 beds (2 bunk beds)
Teacher rooms: 6 x 2 single beds
All bedrooms are en-suite
L’Auberge
Students rooms : 13 x 4 beds (2 bunk beds)
Teacher rooms: 3 x 2 single beds
All bedrooms are en-suite
Browse our most popular trips from Château d’Ebblinghem
Your dedicated Group Co-ordinator
Your Group Co-ordinator is here to ensure the smooth-running of your school tour, acting as all-round support for your group. During the course of your stay your Group Co-ordinator will:
- Meet you on your arrival, organise a welcome talk and centre orientation and organise your group into their accommodation.
- Accompany you on excursions and assist you with supervision and provide practical and historical information regarding your destination.
- Help supervise them in the dining area.
- Liaise with the Group Leader and adult members of the group on a daily basis to ensure good communication throughout your stay.
- Organise and supervise evening activities for your group.
- Encourage your students to use their language skills at all times, for example, during mealtimes and evening activities.
Recreational Activities Available at Château d'Ebblinghem
- Two football pitches (one floodlit)
- Volleyball area
- Four hectares of private grounds
- TV, DVD player and white board available in each building
- Full box of sports equipment
Organised evening activities at Château d'Ebblinghem
Our programme of evening activities is designed so you can easily enhance your group’s itinerary with a range of cultural, subject-based and fun experiences. All activities are free of charge unless otherwise indicated and are co-ordinated by your dedicated Group Co-ordinator.
For French language groups, activities are led by a French speaking Group Co-ordinator and can be conducted in French, English or somewhere in between, giving pupils every opportunity to practise the target language and help build confidence.
Campfire
Campfire
Enjoy a traditional campfire, guests can enjoy songs, relax, share stores and reflect on their shared experiences from the day.
Teamwork, fun, support & encouragement
Disco
Disco
A chance to dance the night away. A popular activity for the final evening of your trip.
Fun, confidence & social skills
Silent Disco
Silent Disco
Enjoy a fun Silent Disco with colourful headphones & all your favourite songs!
Fun, confidence & social skills
Quiz
Quiz
Q & A style challenges, this activity can be based on a variety of subjects.
Fun, competition & French language
Passport to the World
Passport to the World
Students are given maps to find flags placed around the centre. The flags hold questions for them to answer before they return to base.
Teamwork, fun, competition, French language
Disc Golf
Disc Golf
Taking frisbee to the next level! Test your aim on our disc golf course and challenge your friends to see who will be the disc golf champion!
Competition & fun
Archery Tag
Archery Tag
Let the battle commence! Your pupils will first learn how to use the bow to shoot the foam tipped arrows, before embarking on a series of thrilling team combat games in our brand new action packed archery tag session.
Teamwork, competition & fun
Sports & Games
Sports & Games
A variety of more traditional sports and games can be offered.
Fun, teamwork, competition
History Activities
History Activities - Journey to the Trenches
An interactive activity taking the group from enlistment through to life in the trenches. Within this session, the group will discover more about life as a WWI soldier, create their own propaganda posters, consider a soldier’s personal items taken to war in addition to seeing WWI artefacts and tasting army biscuits with camp coffee!
This activity must be pre-booked through your Tour Co-ordinator and takes place during the day.
History, teamwork, fun, decision making
History Activities
History Activities - View WWI artefacts
Take a close look at a range of WWI artefacts at the château to help evoke the atmosphere of the war and aid pupils in their understanding of trench life.
Groups studying Medicine and Surgery can view medical items that would have been used during the war.
WWI History: WWI Medicine & Surgery on the Western Front
History Activities
History Activities - WWI Army Biscuits
In this hands-on biscuit baking activity, students prepare traditional ‘army biscuits’ which soldiers would have eaten during WWI. Take part in a quiz, then taste the results with camp coffee!
This activity must be pre-booked through your Tour Co-ordinator and takes place during the day.
Small charge applies.
French Enrichment Activities
French Enrichment Activities - Dégustation de fromage
Sample a range of French cheeses and discuss the varying tastes, your likes and dislikes in the target language. A fantastic after-dinner activity at NST’s château. This activity must be pre-booked through your Tour Co-ordinator
French language, French culture, food technology, fun, educational
Small charge applies.
Crêpe Evening
Crêpe Evening
A chance for your group to prepare and cook French crêpes. This activity can be supported by our crêpe activity worksheet designed to help support on-centre language learning. Boules can be added to this activity during the summer months.
French language, food technology, French culture
Resources to support & extend language learning
Resources to support & extend language learning
We offer a range of language resources to help your group get the very most out of their time away.
Our Go Explore journal encourages pupils to expand their vocabulary and we provide additional language resources to help support with on-centre learning including a crêpe activity worksheet and meal vocabulary placemats.
We also provide a range of town trails for local towns which are an excellent method of getting pupils to read, repeat and understand French words and phrases whilst exploring a French town.
Meals
Our menu is designed to provide a nutritious balanced diet, accommodating for most dietary requirements. Breakfast and evening meals are provided on-site and packed lunches are supplied daily. Meal times can be flexible to suit your itinerary, and most special dietary requirements are catered for. The catering team will prepare a carefully balanced menu which provides a taste of France but at the same time will still be familiar to most students.
Supporting healthier eating habits:
- Fresh fruit with all meals
- Salad available at dinner time
- Two hot vegetables are served every day at dinner
- Water is available with all meals
- Orange juice is available with breakfast
- Semi-skimmed milk is available with breakfast
Watch our château mini-movie
Helping to combat climate change
Reducing the use of single-use plastics
Hosting hundreds of groups every year, we have managed to significantly reduce the number of single-use water bottles with the introduction of our on-site water re-fill stations.
Offsetting carbon emissions, reducing deforestation & providing wildlife habitats
For every group staying with us, a tree will be planted in the UK and we’ve pledged to offset an additional tonne of CO2 through the Portel-Para reducing deforestation project in the Brazilian Amazon.