After a good sleep, all of the children passed the rook inspection and are now enjoying breakfast. We discovered light snow on our walk this morning, Paris took a look and asked “who ordered this weather!”
Above and beyond, walk the plank, circus skills and archery await while the children are beginning to wonder who has won the various awards the teachers have been judging. Tidiest room and muddiest person are the most hotly contested. They have also been reflecting on their experiences. Ella said “it has been great trying new activities and really funny seeing the teachers having a go”.
Bags are now packed, full of washing to keep parents busy and the children are looking forward to telling year three what they can look forward to next year.
Bedtime in the Oak Lodge and there are plenty of tired children after a very busy day. The weather has been very kind to us again with plenty of sun and just a bit of mist to contend with on our walk to breakfast. The day started early, very early for some. Room inspections at 7.30 were very good, the larger boys bedrooms being the most surprisingly tidy. We then had a walk down to the Nene river to see where we would be canoeing later in the day. Breakfast disappeared very quickly, learning a bit more Portuguese from our Brazilian catering team.
Group one then tried to walk the plank, with some ending up in the mud. Group two completed the above and beyond assault course while learning about the MAF aircraft that are used to deliver aid to some of the poorest and most remote parts of the world.
We then all met up to take on the canoeing as a team. George M summed it up perfectly, “we are really lucky to have such brilliant instructors”. They explained exactly what to do and helped when the canoes didn’t quite go in the direction we wanted. Ask the children about ice cream and brussel sprouts! Nobody fell in, even when we played fruit salad and stood up in the canoes and we played some really fun games.
Lunchtime arrived with plenty of hungry children, and even hungrier adults. Pasta, pizza and salad was just what we needed and the flapjack for pudding promoted many requests for seconds. We attempted to walk to Stanwick Lakes to try out the adventure playground but despite overcoming some pretty big puddles, we had to return home as the paths were too wet.
The afternoon brought abseiling for one group and circus skills for the other. Plenty of courage and skill on display all of which meant a trip to the tuck shop was fully deserved. After dinner came and went before we knew it, the second group to try fencing had a great time learning all the techniques while the other group completed a quiz.
A very tired but happy group of children have now retired for the night and there is not a sound down the corridor (unlike the rather unsubtle ‘whispering’ of the last night). We look forward to another busy morning tomorrow before returning to Church Langton tomorrow to share all of our adventures.
Day One
We arrived to find the sun shining in Irthlingborough after a relatively quick journey from Church Langton. After lunch we went on a tour of the site, discovering the various activities we will be enjoying. Further excitement as we discovered our rooms and started the challenge of having to make our own beds. I would like to report that every child is now an expert (I would like to…) but we then went off for our first set of activities. Group One had a go at Abseiling. It was very cold at the top of the tower and many faced their fears and completed the task. Colin and Steve, the two instructors, were brilliant at encouraging everyone and the view from the top was brilliant. Joel said “the fuzzy helmet felt strange to wear and it was awesome to get to the top of the tower and jump off”.
The other group had a go at Archery. Tim and Laura gave us a great introduction into how to stay safe and hit the target. Danny thought “it was great fun but it was quite hard to aim. I was really pleased when I hit the blue ring”. We played lots of different games and scored lots of points.
After returning to Oak Lodge to finish making the beds we then visited the canteen, where we enjoyed cottage pie followed by sponge pudding. The serving staff are from all over the world so we are learning a bit more about different countries, yesterday it was Brazil, Ecuador and South Korea.
After a playtime on the field we went off to our last activities of the day. Group One were doing fencing, congratulations to Fergus who beat Mrs Sparkes in a duel. They loved putting on all of the kit and Connor said “I liked learning how to lunge and the on guard position, fighting against everyone else was great”.
The other group went on a Night-Line walk, being blindfolded and working in groups to overcome obstacles, including some very boggy grass.
After a chat to share our thoughts on the day, the children went off to bed and were all asleep before we knew it. Another exciting day awaits.
Years One and Two have are studying castles this half term. Last week they went on a fantastic trip to Rockingham Castle, learning all about what it would have been like to live in a castle. They climbed to the top of the turret and went down into the dungeon, visited the great hall and completed a shield hunt around the grounds. The Year Two children have been working on making their own castles recently and presented them to the rest of the class, explaining how they made them and why they chose the different materials. They ranged from a sugar cube castle to a pop up castle. The children have also been painting castles with Mrs Parry, which are now proudly displayed around the school.