On the 23rd September we took our new Year 7 students on our traditional residential trip to Avon Tyrrell in the New Forest.
Read our Y7 student Bonnie’s account of the trip.
On the last weekend of September, the majority of year 7 went to Avon Tyrell! When we arrived we were all shocked by how much land there was. Avon Tyrell is a large manor house that is a camping site and we were lucky enough to stay inside the house in dormitories! The beds were comfy and all the rooms were cosy.The day we got there we did raft building.It was so much fun. We only had rope, barrels and planks of wood. We used all our equipment and got ready to go onto the water. CRASH! Our raft split and we all fell into the icy water of the lake. Because it was a warm day it was quite soothing but still so cold! We fixed our raft and off we went. We had curry for dinner and it was so delicious after a long day.That evening we had a campfire and toasted marshmallows!
After a good night’s rest and an amazing breakfast we left our rooms for the first activity, high ropes. Many people were scared but the instructors were super nice and reassuring. We went on two pieces of equipment and one of them was called the catwalk. You had to clip up a ladder and metal pegs to the piece of wood 20 feet high. Then you had to walk across the pole and when you got to the middle you had to sit down and go onto your belly and hug the pole you then swung upside down and flipped over!
The second activity we did was bushcraft. We went into the woods and collected kindling and sticks for our fires and headed back to camp. Then we got a flint and steel ,vaseline and cotton wool buds. Our fires went up quickly and it was fun watching it burn down too. Next we swapped with the other group and made kelly kettles using flint and steel plus what we had left of our kindling and sticks. You could hear the water boiling and screeching and eventually,it met boiling point!
After pork tacos for lunch, we did our third activity of the day. An adventure course that could only be completed through teamwork. We had to pull each other up a high wall and make a see-saw equal plus all join hands and try to stay joint hands but be facing out not in (someone in our group solved this very quickly! ). Then at the end we put all the elements together and had a bit of a race.The instructor that was with us was so funny!
The last activity of the day, orienteering. We were given a map and it had 8 points to find and we had to walk around the entire place and find the secret code to finish! They were in some bizarre places but with some teamwork we found them all.Then we had a spag bowl for dinner and went up to our rooms to get ready for the disco that evening.It was great fun and went on for an hour and a half. Everyone had a good time with their friends.
We had one activity to finish the long weekend.In my opinion they saved the best for last. Paddle boarding! It was so much fun and everyone kept bumping into each other.I have done paddling boarding before but I still fell in! The water was extremely cold.After we went up to have lunch for the last time and that was the end. I will never forget it!
By Bonnie Head 7B2
Scroll down to see the students in action in our photo gallery.
I just wanted to say a huge thank you for the hard work that you and all the team put into the yr 7 residential this weekend.
Ethan has returned home tired but immensely happy. He loved every minute.
I know, first hand, how bone-crushingly exhausting these trips are for staff. So I wanted to write and express my sincere thanks to every staff member involved in making this weekend so successful. I have loved hearing about everything from the paddle boarding to the campfires with marshmallows.
I really hope you all manage to get a little rest this evening; it is well deserved.
Please pass on my sincere thanks to the whole team. I do not have Mrs Trimnell’s email address so please do forward this to her.
Mrs Price, Y7 Parent
Just to pass on our sincere thanks to all the staff members that gave up their weekend to take the Y7s on the residential.
Joey had a great time and spoke with enthusiasm on his return, having clearly loved the activities and the time spent with friends – what a wonderful opportunity!
Mr & Mrs Hopkins, Y7 Parents
