Active Training and Education Trust

ATE's core activity is providing residential experience for children of a school age within the United Kingdom. Superweeks are residential holidays (at New Year, Easter and Summer) that take place in country houses and mansions at various locations around the United Kingdom. The holidays are designed for children aged 8 to 16 years.

Children come on Superweeks from all over the United Kingdom and some from beyond. They come from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, and although most are paid for in total by their family, a significant minority (about 15%) are sponsored either by ATE's own sponsorship fund or by other bodies such as the Social Services.

Superweeks are designed to be accessible and enjoyable to children from all walks of life, regardless of their personal tastes. They do not focus excessively on physical or outdoor pursuits, but instead use a wide range of activities including games, singing, drama and handicraft as the framework for a happy and constructive experience of community living.[2] The organisation makes every effort to be inclusive and will accept children with special needs or behavioural difficulties whenever it seems reasonably clear that their attendance will be successful.

ATE was founded by Chris Green, who was awarded the MBE in the New Year Honours List 2011 for services to education through ATE and summer camps.[3] He had previously been involved in establishing and managing Colony Holidays (est. 1963), a provider of summer camps in the United Kingdom from the 1960s to 1980s. Green still campaigns for summer camps in the UK.[4]

ATE is a non-denominational body whose only aim or allegiance is educational, and as such it has strong links with the educational establishment. Most of the main educational bodies are represented on its Governing Body, and many of the senior staff on Superweeks are school teachers.

All of the activities of ATE are overseen by a Governing Body which includes representatives from most of the major educational bodies in the UK, and meets on three occasions each year.

The young people, mostly university students, who join the organisation to work directly with small groups of children on Superweeks, are known as ‘Monitors’, and in order to act in this role they must first attend an intensive seven-day residential training course. Monitors are given feedback and targets for improvement at the end of each Superweek, and when they have performed well on at least three Superweeks and have reached the age of at least 21, they can be invited to train as Assistant Directors. This involves a further five-day residential training course and when an individual has successfully acted in this role on at least three occasions, they can be invited to train as a Director, another five-day residential course. The Director is responsible for all aspects of running a Superweek with up to 60 children and 25 staff. Most (but not all) ATE Directors are school teachers. ATE staff, like the children, come from all over the UK and some from other countries too.

The work of Monitors and Assistant Directors on Superweeks is voluntary; they only receive expenses and bed and board for the work they do. This is a deliberate and very important part of the ATE ethos.

ATE provides ‘in service’ training and support to its volunteer staff by providing feedback and goals for improvement at the end of each Superweek, by distributing a free magazine to staff three times each year, and by offering two residential staff weekends each year. This training and support programme is overseen by a Training Group chaired by the Director of Training and comprising senior ATE staff, including a Governor, and two head teachers.