Monday 13 June

Left school this morning at 10am for our journey to Kent. Arrived safely and settled in well. Accommodation is good and food is excellent. Weather is very good. Kids all well and happy.

Open Day

Our Open Day is on Thursday 14 October. There are three tours starting at 9am, 11.20am and 2pm. Simply turn up at the start of your chosen time. There will be a brief talk at the start of each tour.

Please come along and see the school, go into the classrooms and meet the teachers.

Year 8 trip to Liverpool

Monday 19th July

We had a good drive up to Liverpool and arrived at the Youth Hostel shortly after midday. After the coaches had been unloaded we walked the short distance to the Liverpool Maritime museum to view exhibits about the Titanic and other merchant shipping, the Slave trade and Sir Ernest Shackleton's trip to the south pole.

After the museum we walked around the Albert Docks, pausing to browse in the many shops. Some of the staff members accepted an "I'm a celebrity..." style challenge and enjoyed the large roasted termites available from the "Bugworld experience" shop.

Dinner was at the Youth Hostel, followed by a walk around the city to take in some of the sights. Back at the Hostel now and all safe and well in bed.

Tuesday 20th

The Met Office promised heavy rain today and they weren't wrong! Even the most carefully waterproofed students looked like they'd swum the Mersey by the end of the day.

We started with a trip to "The Beatles Experience", a museum charting all things to do with the Fab four's rise to stardom and various careers and endings post Beatlemania. This included a "4D" cinema experience which really engaged the viewer by using moving chairs, wind and even water spray to enhance the on screen action.

After lunch we caught the ferry across the Mersey to visit a planetarium, the "Sky dome" show was very engaging, and made us realise just how small our little planet is.

Back onto the ferry and we went up river to see a German U-boat which had been sunk at the end of the war, a very interesting experience and a lot of the students were shocked at how cramped conditions were.

On the way back the heavens opened and we had a soggy march to the hostel, but dry clothes, warm food and a chance to unwind with friends made everything better.



Kingswood Year 6 Activity Trip

 Sun 27th
Arrived at Grosvenor Hall after an easy drive down. Greeted by friendly helpful site staff and met our group rep "Shaun". We had a tour of the site, then some free time to explore. Going for dinner now the first activities and a pool party later.

Monday 28th

Oggy Oggy Oggy!!
Oy Oy Oy!!

The usual deafening morning greeting from Shaun.

This morning was no different, we were up and ready for breakfast at 7, then had a room inspection (all very presentable) and got ready for a full day of activities.

Highlights included abseiling (with accompanying tears and fears - mostly happily conquered), being recruited into a special crime scene investigations team (but shh we can't tell you in case the criminal finds out) and finding out about local rivers and river-life through the centre's "Finding Fin" educational package. One group even conquered the canoe splash, the rest will have a go soon.

The day ended with a sing-a-long and "magic" around a campfire with some students really surprising the staff by taking the lead with songs and actions. A fun time was had by all. Back to bed now for a good night sleep, they've all earned it!

Tuesday 29th

An overcast start for today with a few showers almost put a damper on the morning, but the sun soon burned off the clouds and we were left with another brilliant day. We started out with more swimming and canoe rolls (well, going under) whilst others continued their work on the CSI case (we're fairly sure we know "who dunnit"). The morning progressed with circus skills (apparently we've got a great bunch of clowns) and some Aeroball (basketball hybrid on a trampoline).

After lunch our groups found themselves in a different mixture of activities including music production, fencing and a court room role play. A hearty dinner restored energy levels and we tackled the heart stopping "descender" (a vertical freefall with 2.5seconds drop time and a soft landing) and a crate stacking challenge.

Our evening entertainments took the form of a Mini Olympics, which was very much enjoyed by all who still had the energy to compete.

Wednesday 30th

A better start this morning with light clouds which gave us intermittent shade throughout the day. Sun-block was liberally applied and we set off for the morning of activities having had a tasty continental style breakfast.

The format was much the same as previous days with teams tackling a variety of education, physical and mental challenges. Everyone is still smiling and enjoying themselves, despite the terror induced by heights at times. Everyone has found new things that they can do, and new limits to their skills which will soon be pushed further.

The day ended with a scrapheap challenge where the teams constructed devices from card, paper and bubblewrap to protect a waterballon. Unfortunately none survived, but we had a great time. You will be glad to know the children will be very quiet when they return home, as we have sung and cheered through the week, although as a consequence the staff have little hearing left.

Thursday 1st July

Our last full day certainly went with a bang, a good breakfast gave us the energy to have a go at more swimming and canoe capsizing, crate stacking challenges and team tech (overgrown meccano). The afternoon was spent with the groups all catching up on the challenges they had not yet had a chance to try, more abseiling, fencing and spirited debates in the courtroom to name but a few.

Our varied and energetic day was drawn to a close with a boogie in "Club Kingswood" the on site disco, now all exhausted but happy and tucked up in bed.


SKI TRIP