We had a peaceful night last night and children ‘slept in’ until a reasonable time this morning. The lodges were very helpful at keeping the midges and early morning sunlight at bay.
We have had very good weather for most of the day and all of the groups completed two activities today. The children have really pushed themselves today and supported each other well.
Group 1: Caving PM, Via Ferrata PM
In the morning, we completed some caving challenges. All of the children were able to do the Tom Taylor and Egglands caves. The Egglands cave was especially challenging and the children showed fantastic bravery. Jagat, Logan and Aaliyah were initially worried but, with the support of their fabulous team, they squeezed through the narrow entrance and made it a good way through the cave. Ben, Odin and Annie then completed the Catcall cave which involved lots of crawling (and commando rolling apparently!). Mr Hemming and Mrs Elam were so proud of all of the children.
In the afternoon, the group did Via Ferrata. All of the children completed the practice course and the vast majority completed the rest of the course, making it across the Burma Bridge to the zip wire at the end. Rosalind was extremely brave when crossing the bar to the other side of the gorge and managed a short zip wire challenge at the end of the course. Esme was like Spiderwoman across the whole course and Aaliyah showed an amazing attitude throughout. Logan had a fantastic time on the course and enjoyed ‘hanging out’ before completing the zip wire. He also gave us a quote that encapsulated what residential is all about: “I’m definitely out of my comfort zone but I’m having a great time!”
Photos can be found by clicking on this link, although some of the photos are taking a while to upload.
Group 2: Abseil and gorge scramble AM, caving PM
All of the children in this group managed the abseil. Viaan and Jaideep whizzed down the abseil very quickly with great confidence. The children found the cold water very challenging but still managed to slide down some waterfalls and enjoyed splashing about in the gorge.
In the afternoon they did caving. Max was a fantastic leader, even coming back to help children who were finding the route challenging. All of the children did three caves, with 5 of the children managing an extra ‘pitch-black’ challenge in Egglands cave. They were very brave and showed great resilience.
The photos can be found by clicking here.
Group 3: Via Ferrata AM, caving PM
This morning group 3 took on the Via Ferrata and were absolutely amazing. Every single one of them were really safe and listen super carefully to the instructions. We were a little nervous at first crossing the beam, but once we were all over there we completed the course in record speed. We then moved onto the higher wires and almost all of the children completed the zip wire. A big special mention to Alise, Neive and Anna who tackled the course with lots of confidence and grace!
After lunch we pulled on our wet suits and got ready for the gorge scramble. The abseil was fabulous and all of the children were very speedy and confident! Everyone used the rope to lower themselves down and it was fantastic to see the big smiles on their faces. Once we landed in the gorge it was absolutely freezing but all of the children worked really hard and we made it to the furthest point. Lots of children jumped in and braved the trust fall into the river – a huge well done as Miss Jones was far too cold to give that a go! I cannot possibly pick a MVP for gorge scrambling, they were all amazing and gave it their all.
We have spent our evening playing some fun games outside before residing to cafe to continue our fun with board games. The children have had a really lovely evening and are slightly more tired than last night!
If photos will not load then they will be available as soon as we get back to school and the wifi is better.
