 Poster: A snowHead
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Only child (9) didn't have a good time skiing on our last holiday. She's not really the sporty type and is quite cautious generally. She has skied with us for one week per year since she was 3 and was getting on fine for the first few years, progressing and enjoying herself. Covid cancelled two planned holidays, then when she went skiing this January she lost her nerve completely, refusing to get out of snowplough and 'refusing' at the top of many runs. She was at the tail end of her group in lessons, which meant that by the time she had caught up with the group waiting for her they were off again, and she couldn't catch a breath.
At the end of the week, she didn't achieve her equivalent of the ESF 1 star badge. Since then, she has repeatedly said that she doesn't want to go on another skiing holiday. She does like all the other snowy activities, especially when in a group of other children. Should we try again, perhaps getting her private rather than group lessons with a recommended instructor in a 'flattering' resort, or just leave it and give up ski holidays as a family?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Does she do any other sport throughout the year?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I don't have kids, but I'd say that if she has lost interest (or never really had it) then leave it there. She may want another go in the future.
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@oldschool72, Trip to say Lapland and get her used to being in snow environment again without the pressure of feeling she needs to compete? I'm far from an expert but I'd be tempted to otherwise leave it for a year or 2 and see if she re-kindles her interest of her own accord, no point pressuring folks of any age imv, some people like it, others don't.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| stevomcd wrote: |
| Does she do any other sport throughout the year? |
Nothing 'risky'; tennis and swimming.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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First of all I feel for you, you clearly don't want to make your child do something they don't enjoy but on the other hand probably feel she will come to appreciate winter holidays if given the chance.
I would counsel you that a year is a long time at that age. She will likely be much stronger and more confident come next winter. And could entirely change her mind in that time.
A sympathetic private instructor is definitely the way to go, I have seen children absolutely transformed by this. Especially if the instructor is young and cool (unlike me!). Vital also that any family skiing outside of lessons is on terrain she is comfortable with - you can ask your instructor for advice on where best to go.
My 4 kids have always enjoyed their ski holidays, but not all of them wanted to ski all of the time. Their enthusiasm came and went at different ages. Some years some of them were happy to ski in the morning but then happy to do something else. It can really help to have decent sized self-catering accommodation so they have a comfortable space to relax and take an afternoon off if they want to. My advice is always to not push them to ski more than they want to, and be prepared to curtail your own skiing too accommodate. It will pay huge dividends in the long run.
I wish you all the best and I am sure it will work out in the end!
Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Wed 10-05-23 14:06; edited 1 time in total
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Try Norway (or other bits of Scandinavia). Skiing tends to be a bit more gentle, the lessons shorter, and the instructors will speak very good English.
Also worth trying an indoor private lesson (e.g. Hemel).
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We had this with my youngest son when he was around 9 and we were going skiing 2 - 3 times a season. I spent a lot of time in swimming pools and on ice skating rinks sometimes with one of his brothers who also did not want to ski all the time. We enjoyed the holidays.
Around this time my youngest had friends going skiing, one just starting out on ski holidays, and we were lucky enough to be able to co-ordinate meeting up with them for a day or two`s skiing. He really enjoyed being with friends and a day spent at La Plagne with his relatively new to skiing school friend rekindled his enthusiasm.
It waned again as a young teenager but then we were able to leave him playing computer games in the caravan if he did not want to ski, and indeed let him play around on a ski board (which he didn`t like lol) and generally do more of his own thing.
These days (in his 30`s) he is a very enthusiastic skier and loves ski holidays.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Leave her with grandparents and enjoy your next ski holiday.
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I'm not a parent. I'd not want to try to get someone to do what they don't want to do, though, so I'd ask them what they'd like to do instead. My girlfriend doesn't ski or board, but she knows where the best restaurants are, can work from the best cafes, and enjoys all the rest of the facilities when she wants to come along. What I wouldn't do is put myself in the "do this because I want you to do it" situation, which isn't ever going to end well.
I think the "confidence" thing is a specific thing for females though, which is a shame. Maybe there are groups of females she could somehow hang with, to maybe get around that whole thing.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| oldschool72 wrote: |
Only child (9) didn't have a good time skiing on our last holiday. She's not really the sporty type and is quite cautious generally. She has skied with us for one week per year since she was 3 and was getting on fine for the first few years, progressing and enjoying herself. Covid cancelled two planned holidays, then when she went skiing this January she lost her nerve completely, refusing to get out of snowplough and 'refusing' at the top of many runs. She was at the tail end of her group in lessons, which meant that by the time she had caught up with the group waiting for her they were off again, and she couldn't catch a breath.
At the end of the week, she didn't achieve her equivalent of the ESF 1 star badge. Since then, she has repeatedly said that she doesn't want to go on another skiing holiday. She does like all the other snowy activities, especially when in a group of other children. Should we try again, perhaps getting her private rather than group lessons with a recommended instructor in a 'flattering' resort, or just leave it and give up ski holidays as a family? |
to me it seems more as a bad experience with the group ski lessons.
Last April i had almost same experience with my daughter.
She had the 1 star since Christmas (Flaine) but she didnt manage the 2nd star in La Plagne. She was the younger in her groud (not even 6) and she can not so good pararell ski.
Consequently she didnt manage for the 2nd Star and she was crying the whole Friday afternoon.
Ok, by us it is not so difficult, she want to ski again, but i will try before the next holidays in France, to prepare her for the two stars with as many private courses as possible. A second unsuccesfull attempt will be a disaster. I know it
Try with private courses. Choose a mix of skiing - pool - other snow activities.
But definiteyl lessons with a private instructor.
Some kinder love the group lessons, other find it too stressfull.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I'm with @zikomo on this re Instructor.
My eldest Son, as a youngster, was a very enthusiastic skier.....but he takes after his Mother, so if you "Butt heads with him" and lay down the law, he can entrench and be as awkward as possible.
When in VDI he (and my Daughter) had a wonderful Instructor called Simon Mc Combe. He captured their imagination and turned every lesson into an adventure, by conjuring up a magic world of Wizards and Goblins and spells shouted from chairlifts. They learned to ski without even realising it....and bounced out of bed in the morning so as to be in time for the lesson.
The following year, they had a "No nonsense, take no Shyte" Aussie....who was a perfectly decent Instructor, but had a "Do what I tell you to" style, which was much more dictatorial and felt like school (which my Son was not that fond of). The result was my Son acted up, by being as awkward as possible, which somehow got him left behind on a run when he fell over. Instead of waiting to be picked up by the Instructor, he went off with a stranger who offered help to take him home. I got a call from the Ski School saying they had temporarily lost my Son. Given his age, I would put a lot of blame on the Instructor, who had a duty of care not to leave him behind.
All ended well, when he was left back to the apartment by the good Samaritan....but had given himself such a fright, he gave up skiing. That was when he was 10....and it was years later before he would contemplate going again.
So, this is my long winded way of saying, that at that age, the "right" Instructor will encourage their enthusiasm for skiing....and a bad experience will do the opposite.....which makes the right Instructor all the more important.
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Oh, the badges, the badges! Our younger one wasn't going to get his badge one year and, in case he didn't get anything from the ski school, I had a fake in my pocket - just a pin badge from the resort, but they did give him one, the same as he'd got the year before. Likewise the elder one had a shocker of a trip once; went from the kid who was always at the front to a snowplough trundler - and all the encouragement in the world couldn't get him right that trip. He was just 'off' that week and sometimes you just have to accept it and help them get that bit of resilience for when stuff isn't going right.
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You know it makes sense.
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Aauming you want to try again, I think @CaravanSkier's suggestion might be the one to go for - see if you can coordinate with another family with a kid of a similar age, preferably someone with less experience than her. Doing your best to identify instruction that is based around having fun.
Skiing doesn't have to be a "sporty" competitive activity, it is fine to enjoy it as a social activity.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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[quote="turms2"]
| oldschool72 wrote: |
She had the 1 star since Christmas (Flaine) but she didnt manage the 2nd star in La Plagne. She was the younger in her groud (not even 6) and she can not so good pararell ski.
Consequently she didnt manage for the 2nd Star and she was crying the whole Friday afternoon.
Ok, by us it is not so difficult, she want to ski again, but i will try before the next holidays in France, to prepare her for the two stars with as many private courses as possible. A second unsuccesfull attempt will be a disaster. I know it
Try with private courses. Choose a mix of skiing - pool - other snow activities.
But definiteyl lessons with a private instructor.
Some kinder love the group lessons, other find it too stressfull. |
Private lessons to take a Group lesson? As if skiing wasnt expensive enough. I'm glad we never got into the whole accumulation of stars thing they have in France. Friends with kids have bought in, so seems they feel obliged to always head to France to get them all.
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Poster: A snowHead
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She didn't have fun and was a bit scared. At the end of the week she felt like a bit of a failure. She probably also knew you wanted her to love it and felt like she was letting you down. Not hard to understand why she doesn't want to do it again!
I'd keep off the topic of skiing for a few months.
Then test the water about next year with some ideas about how to make it more fun.
I'd tend to think less time in lessons, more time with you, willingness from you to skip half a day to do something non-skiing with her. Less time in lessons would perhaps allow a swap from ski school to private lessons. Ideally you'd have another family to ski with, with a child of a similar age/ability who she likes and could share some private lessons - think that is the way that a nervous skier would enjoy lessons the most.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Quote: |
see if you can coordinate with another family with a kid of a similar age
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the Family bash is planned to return next season - being in a peer group she can gel with could be good.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I wouldn't recommend a dry slope for an unkeen, unsporty, child. And leaving it for a bit also a good idea. But a word about the ESF "star" progression. A child with no special sporty aptitude for skiing is unlikely to keep going "up a grade" with ESF with just one week's lessons a year. We had a French family next door to our apartment, with three girls who had all skied a lot since infancy, and the littlest one - to me an impressive little skier - failed twice to get some "fleche" or other (I don't understand the French system). She was disappointed but philosophical - she'd just not made the grade, was some seconds outside the required speed on the timed run. A child who sets great store in having a new "badge" each week they ski is probably best in another system. In a French resort might be worth trying an ESI school or one like BASS. Or a private lesson with no discussion of "badges" or "levels", preferably with another like-minded child, as being one-to-one with an unknown instructor can be a daunting prospect for some kids (and some adults won't contemplate it either, however much the rest of us know it would be terribly good for them).
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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It's hard to give generic advise about kids because they all have different mindsets but if I was in your position I'd probably try and steer the conversation to things they did enjoy about the holiday, not the skiing itself but maybe they enjoyed the food, the journey there, the accomodation etc, ie focus on positive aspects of the holiday not the negatives. If they didn't enjoy anything about the holiday then maybe it's a lost cause trying to encourage them but hopefully there was things they enjoyed.
Also at 9 years old they can change their mind about things very quickly, by next year they might have a very different view of things.
When you are skiing with them, let them choose which runs they want to do, they can choose ones they feel comfortable on and gives them a better feeling of being in control.
And go somewhere that doesn't have that weird star system, I've never come across that before so maybe it's a French ski school thing ? Seems like a bad system to me, far from encouraging kids it's just setting them up for disappointment. I'm not one of those people who doesn't believe in competition and thinks everyone should get a prize for taking part but it's supposed to be a holiday, and not everything needs to be graded like some exam.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I haven't any kids but I was one once...some would say still am.
Without talking it over with her I'd sell the next trip purely as a family holiday, Mum, Dad and Sprog skiing together having fun with no badges and no pressure. But it may be better to talk to her about it in a few months along the lines of "so what shall we do next winter if you don't want to go skiing...I'm going to miss the mountains, what about you?"
Or...so you've had enough of skiing...how about boarding? It's either that or stay with Grandparents while Mum & Dad go sliding!  (Sorry!)
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Show her a different side of the snow.
Go Austria pre-christmas & the advent activities. Magical advent walks, tobogganing, sleigh rides, etc.
Also maybe put her in lessons where she will have fun instead of being tested on proficiency.
She needs to enjoy herself, as she is on holiday as well. Not be graded & assessed continuously for a week.
Does she have a friend who could tag along? Prob need to get to why she does not enjoy it, she could well have felt she was being bullied this year!
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ESF lessons are being rather caricatured here - you are not "graded and assessed continuously" and they often include plenty of fun. But the instructor will be seeing how everybody gets on - in an average early kids lesson there will be a significant difference by the end of the week between the "best" and "worst" performers and it makes no sense for them all to get the same "badge" - especially if that means they get promoted the following year to a class beyond their ability which will just make them even more miserable.
The child's expectations need to be very carefully prepared beforehand - NOT to expect the next badge.
To put kids in the right level group the ski school does need some prior indication of their competence level and the ESF's way of having fairly standard standards makes a good amount of sense.
From my observation parental "expectations" can be a lot more problematical than those of an experienced ski instructor.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Bin the lessons
Make it a holiday
Not a just ski trip
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My youngest didn't enjoy his first couple of holidays. We had a year's break before holiday no 3, and when discussing and booking it, he decided he didn't want to come with us. It was nothing to do with ESF, as at least one of the trips were with another ski school. The thought of having to stay at home with his grandparents changed his mind, and this time everything worked well and spending time as a family instead of all in ski school did the trick.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Above all. Its meant to be fun. Fun fun fun. Kids learn best through play and fun. Go on a winter holiday..not a ski holiday..go to a snowcentre and have fun. Its not all drills and snow ploughs and getting on the edges ... Go have fun as a family and don't just pop them into a ski school ... Its the same for seasoned adults...if you're not singing, smiling or whooping , whats the point.... Best thing you could do is get family booked into telemark lessons and all learn together ...
Last edited by snowHeads are a friendly bunch. on Wed 10-05-23 21:21; edited 1 time in total
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@oldschool72, you have to judge whats right for you and yours. However I have always made sure my kids (and me!) Get lessons and time on slopes in between ski trips. Combination of sessions on local dry ski slope and occasional special trips to the snowdome ( 2hrs drive!). This keeps us all in practice
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Thanks for all the advice. I will park any mention of a ski holiday until next year - we wouldn't go until March/April anyway. Her ideas about skiing may change in the interim. Warmer temperatures may help; she was unhappy about the -15 deg temps in Jan, as she has poor circulation. If we do go, we won't put her into group lessons (will sound her out on private ones), we'll go somewhere with lots of non-ski activities and us parents will accept fewer ski/board hours for ourselves. It's a pity that the Families' Bash happen after my daughter's school holidays.
Funnily enough, she did do dry ski slope lessons before the holiday, but they weren't much use - on each of the 4 lessons, the instructor started from the same point each time (snowploughing on nursery slopes) as there weren't enough children signed up to warrant an 'intermediate' group, and each lesson had a completely different group of children attending.
Unfortunately there are no snowdomes in Ireland, but I'm going to lobby my govt. reps to use some of our recently-announced massive budget surplus to build one 
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You know it makes sense.
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@oldschool72, Sounds like a good plan to me.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@oldschool72, …when my kids were that age we had the particular draw of thermal baths - outside toasty warm water whilst it snowed - at Leukerbad (the BurgerBad) - 40 mins drive from Crans Montana - and then excellent tuition from Yves Caillet’s instructors at Swiss Mountain Sports - great people like Carole and Matilde. Floating in the dark with the vapour rising around you, with the snow coming down is quite magical for kids. Recommended.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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[quote="ster"]
| turms2 wrote: |
| oldschool72 wrote: |
She had the 1 star since Christmas (Flaine) but she didnt manage the 2nd star in La Plagne. She was the younger in her groud (not even 6) and she can not so good pararell ski.
Consequently she didnt manage for the 2nd Star and she was crying the whole Friday afternoon.
Ok, by us it is not so difficult, she want to ski again, but i will try before the next holidays in France, to prepare her for the two stars with as many private courses as possible. A second unsuccesfull attempt will be a disaster. I know it
Try with private courses. Choose a mix of skiing - pool - other snow activities.
But definiteyl lessons with a private instructor.
Some kinder love the group lessons, other find it too stressfull. |
Private lessons to take a Group lesson? As if skiing wasnt expensive enough. I'm glad we never got into the whole accumulation of stars thing they have in France. Friends with kids have bought in, so seems they feel obliged to always head to France to get them all. |
to me it seems that the problem was the group lessons. So (my opinion) take some pr.lessons in order to build confidence again and bring the enjoy.
If that in France has to be, or somewehere else is not so important. Probably somewhere else where the lessons are not so expensive
As regards as the Stars from ESF....my kids wanted that. ANd as long as they want the whole concept i dont bother at all.
However i want to mention that i find this systems better als in AUT.
In AUT every ski school has its own systems and requirements. At least in FR you know where you are (if you start with this system)
And as @JohnS4 said every kind is different.
And as already is mentioned, the best way is the approach of a "Snow holidays" and not "pure skiing holidays".
For the first 4-5 week holidays, i choosed in AUT some kids hotels with many activities for the kids except skiing.
At present i am trying to find something where the kids has to do something more than skiing (pools etc) and always half day courses. So the kids have enought time to rest after the courses and to spend some time with us either skiing or if the weather not help something else
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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My tips would be to go at Easter when it (hopefully) will be warmer. I remember my two learning in February rain and snow and sub zero temps when they were young...... it didn't help!
Also Easter will offer other opportunities if you find the right resort. I have friends who ski until mid afternoon, then drop down a few hundred metres to do activities in the warm/no snow areas. If your daughter really doesn't want to ski, you could take it in turns with your husband to do something different....that way each of you ski get to ski (albeit 3 days out of 6).
Not cheap, but some private tuition might help rather than group.
Perhaps use the term 'snow holiday' rather than 'ski holiday' to take any worries away?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I like 'snow holiday'. Maybe combining holiday with Easter and chocolate (Switzerland?) would provide an incentive.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Long post, but I feel for your daughter (and you). I see similar situations so many times in resort. Confidence comes from skill and experience. Risky/scary skiing comes from a lack of skill and lack of enough experience to make good decisions. Unfortunately as skiing is a male dominated leisure activity, speed, strength and courage feature heavily in the marketing. It’s a huge generalisation but generally (don’t shoot me down) women don’t like the feeling of being out of control, whereas men do. That feeling starts are your skis turn into the fall line and naturally accelerate. As the turn is completed and the skis slow down the feeling decreases. So at any level, from beginner to advanced, once women understand and can control their speed by using the arc of the turn they are happier. Men are generally taller, heavier and stronger, and thus on longer skis so, everything else being equal, they will ski faster than women even if they lack the skills to do so. Fear usually means there is a lack of skill and experience and a strong sense of self preservation! I am the biggest coward but happily ski down anything perfectly adequately because I have had enough good coaching and the chance to learn to assess things for myself and I never try to keep up with the blokes in the group. You don’t get skill from a week of group lessons at half term - that’s childcare. Nor will there be much if any progression in 1 week a year. It’s about a holiday experience. Lessons shouldn’t be scary! Sounds like your daughter has a good sense of self preservation and had a rubbish instructor last time. Although she has skied a few weeks, she has had 6 yrs of physical development, so each week on skis will be different. Private lessons with a female instructor who has been briefed to provide mountain skills and fun in equal measure? No stars, no steep pistes, just fun, games and learning. Not cheap, but worth it. It will probably be in the afternoon so mornings could be pottering about on slopes she likes, consolidating and exploring. Trips to a dry slope during the autumn may also be well worth it if you find an instructor who teaches the person rather than by rote. I hope she learns to love the mountain environment again. Along the way she’ll learn about herself and that’s priceless.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I myself have been snowboarding for 20 years (only 1 week per year, though) and am a steadfast blue piste pootler. I completely understand her risk-averse nature. I do hope, though, that she can come to find pleasure in sliding around on snow in beautiful surroundings at whatever level she becomes comfortable with.
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Does the daughter not going skiing and the parents going skiing have to be mutually exclusive? It might be that the daughter could happily stay with friends and have a ball.
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| CathyAuLait wrote: |
| Long post, but I feel for your daughter (and you). I see similar situations so many times in resort. Confidence comes from skill and experience. Risky/scary skiing comes from a lack of skill and lack of enough experience to make good decisions. Unfortunately as skiing is a male dominated leisure activity, speed, strength and courage feature heavily in the marketing. It’s a huge generalisation but generally (don’t shoot me down) women don’t like the feeling of being out of control, whereas men do. That feeling starts are your skis turn into the fall line and naturally accelerate. As the turn is completed and the skis slow down the feeling decreases. So at any level, from beginner to advanced, once women understand and can control their speed by using the arc of the turn they are happier. Men are generally taller, heavier and stronger, and thus on longer skis so, everything else being equal, they will ski faster than women even if they lack the skills to do so. Fear usually means there is a lack of skill and experience and a strong sense of self preservation! I am the biggest coward but happily ski down anything perfectly adequately because I have had enough good coaching and the chance to learn to assess things for myself and I never try to keep up with the blokes in the group. You don’t get skill from a week of group lessons at half term - that’s childcare. Nor will there be much if any progression in 1 week a year. It’s about a holiday experience. Lessons shouldn’t be scary! Sounds like your daughter has a good sense of self preservation and had a rubbish instructor last time. Although she has skied a few weeks, she has had 6 yrs of physical development, so each week on skis will be different. Private lessons with a female instructor who has been briefed to provide mountain skills and fun in equal measure? No stars, no steep pistes, just fun, games and learning. Not cheap, but worth it. It will probably be in the afternoon so mornings could be pottering about on slopes she likes, consolidating and exploring. Trips to a dry slope during the autumn may also be well worth it if you find an instructor who teaches the person rather than by rote. I hope she learns to love the mountain environment again. Along the way she’ll learn about herself and that’s priceless. |
+1
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Quote: |
It’s a huge generalisation but generally (don’t shoot me down) women don’t like the feeling of being out of control, whereas men do.
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From my experience and observation that's generally right. And it always makes me cross to read the mindless "children have no fear" assertion. I enjoy skiing, but only if I feel more or less in control, and the same with sailing too - people talk about being "addicted" to an adrenaline rush but I can't get my head round that. If adrenaline is what makes you feel that your heart is in your mouth and you might be about to shit yourself, my life is complete without those rushes.
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| pam w wrote: |
ESF lessons are being rather caricatured here - you are not "graded and assessed continuously" and they often include plenty of fun. But the instructor will be seeing how everybody gets on - in an average early kids lesson there will be a significant difference by the end of the week between the "best" and "worst" performers and it makes no sense for them all to get the same "badge" - especially if that means they get promoted the following year to a class beyond their ability which will just make them even more miserable.
The child's expectations need to be very carefully prepared beforehand - NOT to expect the next badge.
To put kids in the right level group the ski school does need some prior indication of their competence level and the ESF's way of having fairly standard standards makes a good amount of sense.
From my observation parental "expectations" can be a lot more problematical than those of an experienced ski instructor. |
Must admit I don't know huge amounts about ESF as my kids have never gone with them. My only experience is a friends child who went with them, who was fretting on the last day about his 'test' to see if he passed. I'm not sure if that's standard, or just happened to him, but does seem like quite a bit of pressure for what should be a holiday (and you're gaining a level of progress not a qualification).
We've been with Evo2, Prosneige, and Oxygene previously, and there was never a last day test as far as I know. Essentially, after monitoring the children, they would move them up or down into the appropriate group so that they were close enough to the level they needed, so that to hitting the target was relatively achievable. I've never seen a child not get their badge at the end of the week.
I don't think they should be handing them out if they haven't met the appropriate level, as (you rightly say) it would cause lots of problems the following year. But also I know my kids wouldn't have been impressed to do a whole week of 'school' to be essentially be told they've failed - on what is supposed to be a fun holiday. Especially in the early days when they are still making up their mind about this skiing thing.
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