Headteacher’s blog 25th May 2018
Year 5 have had a fabulous week in the Yorkshire Dales on their annual residential. They have been caving, mountain biking, walking amongst waterfalls and learning about rocks and rivers. Equally importantly, the children have been away from home, taking responsibility for themselves and their kit. The children have shown good determination and tenacity whilst overcoming challenges: particularly in the caving and mountain biking activities. This is very much a DIY residential and special thanks go to all the staff and volunteers that have supported the week – we couldn’t do it without them.
This week thirty children in the juniors also had the opportunity to experience a mini-triathlon in an event organised by the Brownlee Foundation. This is another great sporting event that we have been able to access thanks to having minibuses available. This will be last term for one of the buses as it is very old and polluting and will not be allowed once a ‘Clean Air Zone’ is introduced. We have decided to replace it sooner rather than later and, with support from the PTA, we will be ordering a cleaner new bus for the new school year.
What a fun week my two have had! They both loved the mini triathlon and Emelia has returned tired but very happy from residential. Now a welcome week off for us all.
This triathlon was too short really for the calibre of the young athletes that we took: each discipline could have been at least x 4 in length. Next year we may take less naturally athletic children. I spoke with an organiser there and we are hopefully going to get info about some more challenging junior triathlons soon.
Evie had an amazing time on the residential and is still buzzing about the experience. A few more early nights will be required though I think!
She is such a smiley girl! Glad she enjoyed everything; she is a pleasure to spend time with.
This week really sums up why we chose Farfield for our children: Y5 residential, a chance to take part in a triathlon, planting seeds, outdoor learning, Leeds Book Awards and smiles all around. Thank you!
It was great to see the children overcome fears and give new things a go while on residential. Well done to all of them.
Listening to the children laughing and playing while ‘paddling’ at the end of the waterfall walk was a definite highlight of the week for me. It was lovely to see them having such fun.
Huge thanks to Charlie Pyatt for leading the caving at Ribblehead, and to Chris Young and Matt Asquith for leading the cycling at Gisburn Forest.
Now time for a well-earned week off to rest and recover.