Y8 - 9 Ocean Stars Sri Lanka Residential Trip 2026
Please note that all of the details provided below are SUBJECT TO CHANGE. The illustrations are taken from previous years’ trips and cannot be guaranteed.
| Audience: | Year 8 (Year 10 when trip departs) and Year 9 (Year 11 when trip departs) |
| Trip Organiser: | Mr R Walker |
| Approx Cost Per Pupil: |
£TBC - Excl passports etc. (Last year's trip cost - £3185. Subject to change, for information only) |
| Estimate Deposit: | £200 (Upon application) |
| Limited Places: | 21 |
| Passport Required: | A British Citizen’s or EU Passport (must have an 'expiry date' at least 6 moths after the day you arrive) or a visa will be required. |
| Usual Month of Departure: | October - November (Dates will be confirmed in the Trip Bulletin) |
| Opens for Applications: | TBC |
| Deadline for Applications and Submitting the Letter | TBC |
| Usual Student Launch Assembly: | Before Easter |
| Term Time or Holiday: | Half-Term holiday +/- 3 days |
| Usual Duration: | 13 days - 12 nights |
| Usual Departure Time: | TBC |
| Usual Departure Meeting Point: | Calthorpe Park School, coach bay |
| Usual Return Arrangements: | Parents to collect from Heathrow airport (Sunday evening) |
| Method(s) of Transport: | Coach & Aeroplane |
| Accommodation: |
Thilanka Hotel Kandy, Thilanka Hotel Dambulla, East Lagoon Hotel Batticaloa, Galidari Hotel Colombo |
Final details will be provided upon confirmation that your child has been allocated a place.
Please click here to watch the video presenation.
PRE-REQUISITES:
Students will apply to join us for this life changing experience in Sri Lanka. Over the past years, we have worked with a range of partner schools and community groups in Sri Lanka. Successful students will work with us throughout the 2024-2025 academic year to prepare lessons and fun activities, which they will deliver to Sri Lankan students in various local schools, including different age groups, a school for deaf/hearing impaired students, and a local community group.
Successful applicants will visit a range of cultural sites including the world famous Temple of the Buddha’s Tooth, a tea plantation, and a spice garden. Additionally, they will experience a jeep safari to see wild elephants and visit the rock cave temple of Dumbulla.
Students who are selected commit to help us raise funds for Ocean Stars Charity, which supports individuals, schools and community groups across Sri Lanka. Fundraising has included both group and individual events, and students who have joined us in the past have raised sufficient funds to build a pre-school in Batticaloa, rebuild a music room in a secondary school and contribute towards many other amazing projects. Students will have the chance to see where the money they have raised has been spent and visit many of these projects during their time in Sri Lanka.
We expect successful applicants to be ambassadors for our school and to model considerate and appropriate behaviour at all times, taking into account differences in local customs, attitudes and traditions.
TRIP PROCESS – VARIATION
Students will be required to submit a formal, written letter, outlining their reasons for wanting to be part of the experience. Students should address their letter to Mr K John, outlining what skills they will be able to offer in Sri Lanka, how they think they will manage the significant journey to and travel around Sri Lanka, how they will deal with differences in culture and climate and being away from parents and friends. They should consider what they might be able to bring back to our school and how they feel they might be affected personally in visiting a developing country where life is very different from in the UK. They should include ideas for fundraising both individually and as a group, which is an important part of lead up to the trip. The deadline for submitting this letter will be 9pm on Monday 22 April. This will be confirmed to students in the launch assembly.
Students’ letters should be addressed to Mr K John and submitted by email to the Head Teachers PR sue.booker@cps.hants.sch.uk with a ‘Request Delivery Receipt.’
In addition, parents will receive an Edulink notification advising them that the Trip is Open for Application in the usual way on the first Tuesday of the half-term. It is essential that a student’s application is supported by this parental application. Without a deposit and completion of the parental Scopay Application Form, a student's application cannot proceed to the next round, which comprises a face-to-face interview. Interviews are expected to take place week commencing TBC.
Place confirmation letters will be issued on TBC.
By applying for a place, you are agreeing to support your child’s involvement in this 20-month commitment and to paying:
- an initial, non-refundable deposit at the time of application
- a minimum of £2000 by 01.12.2025
- the full balance of the trip in full by 01.07.2026
On the understanding that:
- the cost of the trip may increase/decrease depending upon the flights available at the time of booking and you may be asked to make an additional payment. Refunds will be made in the unlikely event of overpayment.
- the trip will take place during October 2025, but dates may overlap with the academic term and will involve all of the October half-term break.
- the number of days/nights may increase/decrease
If there is insufficient interest, or we are unable to source a suitable venue, deposits will be refunded in full.
Covid Disclaimer: Organising a school trip in the current climate is not without risk. In applying for a place, please be aware that should the trip need to be cancelled, or should we be required to make alterations (for example, reducing the number of attendees) or restrictions which would render the trip impossible to go ahead, we will only be able to reimburse any costs to parents which have, in turn, been refunded to the school.
SAMPLE ITINERARY
Ocean Stars Sri Lanka Experience is open to all Year 8 students. We will also consider applications from Year 9 students, but it must be borne in mind that they will be in Year 11 at the time of the trip. Students will work with us on an orientation programme during year 9, when they will learn about Sri Lanka, its customs and traditions; learn to say some key words in Sinhala and Tamil, and plan their fundraising during the school year and their activities whilst in Sri Lanka.
The itinerary for the proposed 2023 trip is yet to be confirmed but the experience would likely include:
- Departure from Calthorpe Park School by Coach
- Flight from London Heathrow
- Arrival in Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Drinks and refreshments aboard coach journey to first hotel
- Full services of driver and guide from Beyond Boundaries
- Overnight stay at Thilanka Hotel Kandy
- Visit to The Temple of the Tooth, Kandy
- Cricket match with local school in Kandy
- Visit to tea plantation, Geragama
- Visit to herb and spice garden
- Overnight stay at at Thilanka Hotel, Dambulla
- Train ride from Perideniya to Rambukkana
- Jeep Safari to Minnariya National Park to see elephants
- Visit to Dambulla Rock Cave Temple
- Drinks and refreshments aboard coach journey to Batticaloa
- Accommodation at East Lagoon Hotel, Batticaloa
- Coach travel to all locations in Batticaloa
- Visit to Koneswaram Temple in Trincomalee
- City tour of Colombo
- Overnight stay at Galadari Hotel Colombo
- Visit to Gangrama temple in Colombo
- Lunch at Barefoot Handlooms
- Shopping in Colombo for Sri Lankan handicrafts
- Full use of pools at hotels with lifeguards during stay
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks each day, and fresh water supply at all times
- Full medical insurance