Year 4 Residential Day 1: Thumbs Up From Carroty Wood
Mr Andrews’ Blog:
The Year 4 trip has officially begun! As we pulled away from 5 the Street, leaving our peers busily working away, excitement gripped the bus! This is the first residential that most of our not-so-young St Faithians have been on. The teachers began checks for the 100th time since boarding the bus – children: check, bags: check, lunch: check. Disco Snail: check. Hang on; Disco Snail? I don’t remember being on the kit list, yet there, meandering its way towards the front of the bus, to the delight of 26 children, was a disco snail. When said child was questioned on the packing and setting loose of Disco Snail, they replied, ‘It’s for the corridor, Mr Andrews’. I’m all for some fun, but what do these children think they are embarking on?! Corridor patrols will have to be upped this evening. That said, I look forward to seeing how Disco Snail evolves over the next few days. We may have just found ourselves a new school mascot!
As we drew nearer to our destination, the excitement built, but alas, so did the rain! Come rain or shine, nothing will dampen our spirits, and we rounded the corner to Carroty Wood to the soundtrack of a massive celebration from the children after a (very) long game of ‘Is that Carroty Wood? Mr Andrews?’ ‘No – that is just a wood!’.
Once off the coach, we had the dream scenario of accessing the house immediately! The children were given their room allocations, a long lecture about being a good roommate, and a crash course in etiquette for sharing a room with friends. The half ter homework of learning how to make a bed was surprisingly successful. Bed sheets – no problem. Pillow covers – completed them. Duvet covers… ah, it’s always the duvet covers that provide the biggest challenge! With the ‘I Can and I Will’ attitude waning, (maybe due to the exhaustion of putting the sheet and pillow cover on), the duvet covers for some were simply a step too far. Enter Mr Andrews and Mrs Cavanagh. After what seemed like 89 duvet covers wrestled onto duvets, arms burning and backs hurting, we finally succeeded and all children were happy that their sleeping quarters were set up! A target for the next trip – Duvet Covers!
Chef Paul had sent us off with a cracking pack-up as usual. There was the odd upset over who was lucky enough to find a chocolate bourbon in their bag, with those receiving these coveted treats deeply envied by the masses! We quickly changed into our wet gear and set off for our first activities. Group 1 took on the peddle karts while Group 2 tackled Team Building. I believe it was Rihanna who said, ‘If it rains, let it rain the wetter, the better’. She did have an umbrella in this song – something we were all lacking. The rain was only light though, and added to the fun of participating in new activities. The Karters where driving through puddles, executing wheel spins and smashing out some handbrake turns to boot! We have some budding racers amongst the troops here!
Group 2 worked on their listening skills and teamwork. They tackled many activities, ranging from an impossible obstacle course to a leaking drain pipe. It was great to see the different learning potential of each child shine through. Muddy and tired but smiling from ear to ear, we returned to HQ, having had a great time.
All the children are in good spirits – what a great, resilient bunch this lot of Year 4s are! We have the Bin Bag Fashion show and quiz tonight (two rights of passage for any Year 4 residential). Mrs Ross is doing a great job as team leader, and Mrs Cavanagh is as brilliant as ever! Must dash as we are just sitting down to a mountain of Pasta bolognaise. Sleep well, reader, and we will update you in the morning!
