St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and Nursery

And so, the final full day on our residential trip has somehow arrived – the time has just flown by in the company of your wonderful children. It really is the case that time flies when you are having fun and as we reflected on this evening, there has been so much joy throughout the week.

We had another very peaceful night’s sleep all round. With an even earlier wake up time for our 7:10 breakfast slot, the children were surprisingly full of energy as we made our way to the dining room! With a full day of challenging activities ahead today, everyone was keen to fuel themselves up! Many plates of hashbrowns, bacon, tomatoes, baked beans and veggie sausages were consumed, followed by some rather large bowls of cereal and yet another mountain of toast and jam! Some children even found room for some fruit and yogurt too!

We were soon out and about on our first activities. All groups took part in the zip wire challenge, which really was a challenge as they had to climb a tall tower to launch themselves from. Many children had to push themselves and show real determination on this one. We were really proud of everyone, some climbed to the top and admired the view others flew down in various crazy poses! Throughout all three groups, the good spirit and on-going support for one another was just amazing.

The other morning activity was survivor, where the children got to take part in some different ‘bushcraft’ skills sessions. They were able to learn how to light small fires by making sparks with flints and steels. This took a serious amount of effort, strength and perseverance. Shelters were also built with varying degrees of success! Again we saw amazing teamwork in all three groups, children sharing their skills and supporting one another to achieve great things!

Tummies were rumbling, and there had been rumours of burgers for lunch… and we were not disappointed! So beef and veggie burgers with fries were soon demolished and we were straight back out with our group leader, Mia, to collect firewood ready for our much-anticipated evening camp fire.

The sun started to shine as we set out on our afternoon activities. All three groups took part in more high rope activities with abseiling and vertical challenge. Once more we saw children face their fears and push themselves to do more than they thought they could. Again we were filled with pride as we saw the children encourage, support and care for one another throughout the afternoon. The children were very pleased to have Mrs Bosher join us for the evening and for Mrs Glover to return as we said farewell to Mrs Whitehead.

Dinner was certainly well-earned once again and a choice of a delicious chicken korma, chicken or veggie meatballs with rice was well-received by all with jam crumble cake for pudding!

Camp fire this evening was a really magical experience with singing and games by firelight and of course the much-anticipated marshmallow toasting. It ended with Mia handing out PGL certificates to all the children for their achievements this week. The children returned to their rooms to start packing up ready for our departure tomorrow.

Whilst the children are feeling a little sad that the week is almost over, they have had the most fantastic time and are taking away some great memories of a wonderful week away. We hope you enjoy all the stories they come home with and hearing all about their many many achievements. We look forward to seeing you all on our return to Newbury tomorrow. Your children are an absolute credit to you all and it has truly been a privilege to spend the week in their company.