What a day! Beautiful weather, high adrenelin activities and great food, all enjoyed by a brilliant group of Year 6 pupils who have continued to impress us all with their enthusiasm, boundless energy and "give it a go" approach to everything that is thrown at them.
Everyone certainly slept better than they had the first night and were not awake quite so early this morning, a few still rubbing sleep from their eyes at breakfast time.
Circus skills, orienteering, Laser zone, abseiling, Go karts and many more activities have been challenging the girls today, and they have all achieved beyond their wildest dreams.
With many other schools departing today we had the whole centre to ourselves at lunchtime which gave us plenty of time to enjoy a large slice of birthday cake to round off our lunch and set us up nicley for more activities this afternoon.
The nightline activity where a line of blindfolded children had to follow a rope wherever it may lead, including over rough terrain, through tunnels and over bridges, around tree stumps and through "spider's webs" (dangling ropes), highlighted a few lessons to be learned with the listening side of communication; our girls are quite brilliant at the speaking side, yet not so accomplished at listening yet!
After a roast dinner it was time to head back to the dormitories and put on their glad rags ready for the disco; this too was, a highly energetic event, fuelled by loud music (some of which even the oldie teachers knew, but by no means all of it)and the duracell bunny instructors who never seem to run out of energy. They all looked fantastic in their outfits, many of which had been planned and co-ordinated with others for weeks before hand. After over an hour of dancing a few sore feet plodded their way back to the canteen for hot chocolate.
At time of writing (10.05pm) the girls are all in their beds, just having a bedtime story and lights will be going out for the last time on Kingswood 2010 within a few minutes.
Tomorrow morning will be hectic, with the girls needing to pack everything up and be out of the dormitories so that they can be cleaned ready for the next group of children to inhabit. There are still two more activities to complete before lunch and then the awards ceremony...(still unbeknown to the girls) our lists are virtually complete, just a little fine tuning still to do. We aim to leave at about 1.00pm and hopefully we will be able to deliver your daughters back to you at the planned time of 3.15pm.
Friday 21 May 2010
Thursday 20 May 2010
Day 2
Another wonderful day under the clear blue, Staffordshire skies! The weather certainly makes some aspects of this trip easier although the reminders of water and sun cream need to be more frequent.
Everyone settled down last night ...eventually, however we must do more work on telling the time as some seemed to misread the clock having been told that no one leaves the dormitories before 7.00am, quite a handful were on their way to the showers at 6.00am.
The girls have had an action packed day completing Team challenges, climbing, orienteering, fencing, aeroball, quad bikes, archery and problem solving. We have been working hard to get the girls to set realistic targets and to be satisfied if they achieve it and elated if they better it rather than setting their targets too high (i.e. get to the top of the climbing wall...a target that cannot be beaten). However, this is the first Kingswood trip of many that I have lead where we have had EVERY child go down the zip wire... an incredible achievement from every single one of them.
Back to the idea of water; a large, well natured water fight ensued this evening, the girls choosing to stay out and play rather than spend time in their dormitories, a healthy choice and getting washed at the same time!
Food has continued to be a highlight with plenty for everyone; apparently the pizza for lunch was more edible than that which was served up in Whitby last year.
The evening entertainment has been completed (scrapheap challenge) and a final cup of hot chocolate consumed, they are now settling down ready to have their bedtime stories. We are hopeful that sleep will come a little sooner than it did last night.
Another full day to look forward to tomorrow and the obligatory disco to round off the day. A few more awards have been sorted today, with just a little fine tuning before our awards ceremony.
More from the blog tomorrow at about the same time.
Everyone settled down last night ...eventually, however we must do more work on telling the time as some seemed to misread the clock having been told that no one leaves the dormitories before 7.00am, quite a handful were on their way to the showers at 6.00am.
The girls have had an action packed day completing Team challenges, climbing, orienteering, fencing, aeroball, quad bikes, archery and problem solving. We have been working hard to get the girls to set realistic targets and to be satisfied if they achieve it and elated if they better it rather than setting their targets too high (i.e. get to the top of the climbing wall...a target that cannot be beaten). However, this is the first Kingswood trip of many that I have lead where we have had EVERY child go down the zip wire... an incredible achievement from every single one of them.
Back to the idea of water; a large, well natured water fight ensued this evening, the girls choosing to stay out and play rather than spend time in their dormitories, a healthy choice and getting washed at the same time!
Food has continued to be a highlight with plenty for everyone; apparently the pizza for lunch was more edible than that which was served up in Whitby last year.
The evening entertainment has been completed (scrapheap challenge) and a final cup of hot chocolate consumed, they are now settling down ready to have their bedtime stories. We are hopeful that sleep will come a little sooner than it did last night.
Another full day to look forward to tomorrow and the obligatory disco to round off the day. A few more awards have been sorted today, with just a little fine tuning before our awards ceremony.
More from the blog tomorrow at about the same time.
Wednesday 19 May 2010
Day 1
We arrived safe and sound after a slightly delayed start and enjoyed our pack lunch from school on our arrival after just a couple of uneventful hours on the coach.
After a tour of the site we were thrust straight into a game of giant twister and various other games revolving around a "hotspots" (twister) board.
Dormitories were allocated and the girls set about the task of bed making, with varying amounts of success, working together as a team they all now have a made bed to sleep in tonight.
Mini olympics was our first official activity, not too sure that we have any budding Olympians, then again I would be surprised if "round abouts and bridges" will be an Olympic event in 2012!
Group activities started at about 5.00pm with girls participating in either climbing, aeroball, team challenges and archery, setting themselves personal targets, many of which were exceeded, especially within climbing.
Dinner of burgers and wedges or curry and rice accompanied by salad was gratefully received as everyone was feeling very hungry by 6.30pm.
We have just returned from a lively campfire, singing songs, telling jokes and playing more games as well as the obligatory marshmallows. The girls are now (10.00pm) all in their pyjamas, washed and in bed, they are just settling down to sleep with a bedtime story. Let's hope that they sleep well and are not up with the lark in the morning!
Unbeknown to the girls we are on the lookout for "quirky" behaviour or achievements over our time here and we already have many ideas for our end of trip awards... we will continue to be on the lookout over the next couple of days!
More to follow tomorrow at about the same time.
After a tour of the site we were thrust straight into a game of giant twister and various other games revolving around a "hotspots" (twister) board.
Dormitories were allocated and the girls set about the task of bed making, with varying amounts of success, working together as a team they all now have a made bed to sleep in tonight.
Mini olympics was our first official activity, not too sure that we have any budding Olympians, then again I would be surprised if "round abouts and bridges" will be an Olympic event in 2012!
Group activities started at about 5.00pm with girls participating in either climbing, aeroball, team challenges and archery, setting themselves personal targets, many of which were exceeded, especially within climbing.
Dinner of burgers and wedges or curry and rice accompanied by salad was gratefully received as everyone was feeling very hungry by 6.30pm.
We have just returned from a lively campfire, singing songs, telling jokes and playing more games as well as the obligatory marshmallows. The girls are now (10.00pm) all in their pyjamas, washed and in bed, they are just settling down to sleep with a bedtime story. Let's hope that they sleep well and are not up with the lark in the morning!
Unbeknown to the girls we are on the lookout for "quirky" behaviour or achievements over our time here and we already have many ideas for our end of trip awards... we will continue to be on the lookout over the next couple of days!
More to follow tomorrow at about the same time.
Thursday 13 May 2010
Final Details
Welcome to the Year 6 blog that will inform everyone what we have been up to while away at Kingswood, Staffordshire.
I will endeavour to "post" a paragraph or two each evening at around 10.00pm to let you know how we are getting on, so please do add this page to your favourites (your daughters will show you how if you are stuck)!
You should now have received (via pupil post) a letter outlining final arrangements and the telephone cascade.
Any questions regarding this trip please do not hesitate to contact me.
I will endeavour to "post" a paragraph or two each evening at around 10.00pm to let you know how we are getting on, so please do add this page to your favourites (your daughters will show you how if you are stuck)!
You should now have received (via pupil post) a letter outlining final arrangements and the telephone cascade.
Any questions regarding this trip please do not hesitate to contact me.
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