On Thursday 15th September, year 4 excitedly gathered their bags and lunches and boarded the coach for the short journey taking them to their Blackland Farm adventure.
Once the coach was unloaded the children went off to explore the lodge which was to be home for the night and to find out where they would be sleeping. After the excitement of discovering who would sleep where, it was lunchtime. The weather was glorious and lunch was a picnic on the field. It was then time for the first set of activities.
Two groups tackled the crate challenge to see how high they could get with a partner on a stack of crates. It was fun when they toppled over and the girls were left dangling in the air! One pair managed a tower of 13 crates before falling off!
The third group were working together on team building games which included getting into a line in age order without stepping from a bench and turning a circle inside out without breaking the perimeter – the girls were the circle! After a short break the groups swapped around so that everyone had a go at both the crate challenge and the team building activities.
Next on the agenda was an exploration of the woods where the girls discovered an adventure trail, which everybody enjoyed climbing and playing on.
After a busy afternoon, everyone was hungry and very much enjoyed the sausages, mash and vegetables prepared by Mrs Hausdoerfer and Mrs Cattaneo. Every plate was empty and most people had second helpings. The evening activity was indoor wall climbing. After strapping themselves into their safety harnesses, they were all very brave and had a go; some climbing to a height of at least 6 metres!
All the fresh air and fun had made (almost!) everyone sleepy. After making sure that the torches worked and the trips to the bathrooms had stopped, everyone (eventually) slept well. Breakfast of cereal, toast and croissants was served before the morning activity of abseiling. Despite the rain it was brilliant fun. Everyone went up to the top of the tower to have a look, and lots of people abseiled all the way down. Every single person should be really proud of their achievements and for working together as a year group so well.
It was then time for a cooked lunch and everyone then had to get involved to make sure the lodge was clean and tidy for its next visitors. Mopping and sweeping floors, cleaning up in the kitchen, stuffing the sleeping bags back into their bags, reuniting clothes with the right person was all achieved with great effort and team spirit.
Finally, it was time to get back on the coach to travel back to school. We were wet and tired, but very happy!