It’s incredible how much can be squeezed into one day! Today has included a tree-top trail, a huge walk to Sheringham for an ice-cream, a swim, fire-making and camp building, three cooked meals, a room inspection, bag packing and a Stars of Fressingfield Award Ceremony. I’m not sure how we managed to achieve so much, but it helps that the day started at about 5.15am! Needless to say, we have some rather tired-looking children tonight, so we’re hoping they will sleep a little longer.
For Group 2, which includes Ted, James, Sonny, Korbyn, Nancy, Sienna and Maisie, the day started with an enormously long walk to Sheringham. The walk took in the Pretty Corner Woods, the old priory, the common, the Beeston Bump, the train line, the beach, the ice-cream shop and the town itself. It’s a wonderful walk with beautiful views, a bit of history about Henry VIII and the challenge of using a compass and reading the maps themselves to work out the directions to the next waypoint. The girls completed the walk very much in their own bubble – they have loved being together over the last three days and they seem to be able to entertain themselves endlessly. The boys really enjoyed it too and Mrs Scott said it was lovely to see them pretty much arm in arm helping each other along and chatting and just enjoying it all.
Meanwhile, Group 1, which is George, Oliver, Oscar, Niall, Daisy, Bella, Lizzie, Tobie and Lydia’s group were taking on their first BIG challenge here – the Tree Top Trail (or Chree Chrop Chrail as we seem to be calling it). The first job, after getting on our harnesses and helmets, is getting to grips with the safety locking mechanism; it’s a clever system which means the children have the freedom to choose different routes but they are always attached to the wires on the course. Learning how to use it all involves keys, rings, karate chops and marriages (they’ll have to explain when they get home). But once they have the hang of it, they are free to go. The course starts at ground level, but very quickly, the children have to negotiate a wobbly ladder across the road, balance beams, tightropes blocked by balloons, barrel bridges, hoops, and all sorts of other obstacles. Some children are fearless with this: Niall and Tobie are quite happy dangling and playing no matter how high up they are; for others it is all a bit more of an ordeal. But that’s where the challenge-by-choice comes in. Bella needs a special mention for overcoming her initial worries on the wobbly bridge and then choosing to complete the higher of the two challenges. You’ll see from the photos how much fun the others were having.
In the afternoon, Group 1 set off on the Journey to Sheringham for a Mr Whippy, and Group 2 set off into the woods for the bush craft. They had just as much difficulty getting the fire to light as Group 1 had yesterday, but this time the wind was the issue. However, Maisie stepped up to the plate and did wonders blowing on the embers and feeding the fire with kindling to get it all going. They arrived back at the base covered in warpaint and completely happy.
The evening included a twenty minute dip in the pool for each group. It’s unheated but James and Ted said it was fine once they had got in. Sienna agreed, but said that getting out was difficult in the wind. I’m not surprised.
After dinner, whilst the children were playing a mega game of Mad Hatters on the field, the Room Inspectors arrived. They are fierce and have incredibly high standards. The boys performance here was mixed, we came both first and last in the competition. So, whilst both rooms had certainly made an effort, it was Oliver, Oscar, George, Niall and Tobie who won the prize: it was the display of their hoodies on their spare bed each with their name uppermost and an item of personal significance underneath (a fishing book, a picture of dad, etc) that helped win the judges’ admiration. The girls had also made an effort, but the competition from other schools was pretty stiff and they finished in fifth and sixth places overall (out of six. Oops.).
The evening ended with Stars of Hilltop: the children nominated people they had noticed being kind, helpful or brave, or those that had overcome a personal challenge, etc. It’s a lovely moment and many of our children were either nominated or had lovely things to say about the people they were nominating. I love it.
And now the children are in bed. Tomorrow we’ll pack up our rooms before our final activities (The Air Jump and the assault course for Group 1 and the Chree Chrop Chrail for Group 2). Then we’ll set off after lunch. Be prepared for some big hugs from some very mucky children!
