The year four residential trip to Rock UK started with a coach full of very excited children heading off for a busy few days away from home. The weather was not kind to begin our stay, torrential rain meaning the tour of the site was somewhat limited. However, the excitement caused by the discovery of the room upgrades soon made up for it.
The making their beds (with a bit of help!), the children met up with the instructors for the first time and took on the various team building challenges. These involved plenty of discussion about how to overcome the obstacles and achieve the goals. A particular highlight was surviving the trip over the river of lava from the local volcano.
After a quick biscuit the groups went off to their next activities. The first group enjoyed learning about the work of MAF (Mission, Aviation, Fellowship), a Christian charity who support vulnerable families in some of the most remote parts of the world. They then had to consider what some of this help would be like as they undertook an obstacle course before finishing with a trip in a MAT airplane.
The second group took part in Walk the Plank. This involved the children working in pairs, one blindfolded the other acting as guide as they walked over the course of planks and walkways over the water. Plenty of wet feet (and more) were the result but some groups managed to complete the task in one go and Mr Williams somehow managed to stay on dry land.
The children were all ready for their dinner of spaghetti bolognaise or macaroni cheese and enjoyed sharing their stories from the activities. We also had a chance to meet some of the volunteers who work in the centre’s canteen, learning to say thank you to the Colombian cook in Spanish.
The evening activities were again completed in two groups. Nightline involves the children following a course through the woods by following a rope over many different obstacles. They all completed the course with some of the more quiet members of the groups really shining as they instructed and supported their friends.
The second activity was creating their own dragon eggs, a follow up to the recent writing work the class have been doing in school with Mrs House. It was great for the children to have a relaxing end to their day as they look forward to a good night’s sleep.
We finished the evening with the children sharing their prayers they had written about their first day and looking forward to more fun ahead tomorrow.