Hooke Court - September 2011
Dear readers,
You’ll be glad to know we all arrived safe and sound at the picturesque Hooke Court at 11:30 this morning. We’ve had an action packed day under a stunningly sunny sky (great alliteration for this time in the day Miss B)! Everyone managed to make their beds (some great ghost photos acquired) and we even survived the practise fire drill in our slippers!
After our lunch, the first activity of the day was team building where we had to work together to develop our communicative, co operative, considerate and careful natures (many c’s to think about).
Once we’d refreshed ourselves with a drink and snack, we headed out for orienteering and low rope tasks. According to Margaret, our course leader, some of us are natural cheeky monkeys swinging through the trees! Even Miss McElroy got involved (she was really glad that there were not enough children to be in equal pairs as it meant she got to behave like a child again)!!
Dinner was in great need after our eventful day and when the last dollop of apple crumble was licked off the spoon we headed off for our night activities. M5 went on a ‘night line’ walk and B5 enjoyed a shell craft activity.
Some snippets of feelings from the reflection diaries:
‘My favourite part was before tea, rolling down the massive hill having a laugh and a race with my friends. It was brilliant. I’m excited for tomorrow’ Georgina B5
‘Finally we went on a fun tour around Hooke Court. PS, I do not want to go’ Levi, M5.
‘The thing I enjoyed best was arriving and going into our bedroom. It was really hard putting our bed covers on but I got the hang of it’. Taylor B5
‘We made rules and jobs in our dorm. I’m the door opener with Lucy. It’s really fun in our room with all my friends’ Emily B5
‘Super cool would describe today because it was all amazing really! I will probably cry when we leave’ Callum M5
Off to a much needed bed now!
Thanks for reading and we’ll post again tomorrow.
Sweet dreams,
The Hooke Court Crew (Longwell Green Contingent)
Ps, Don’t forget to follow Mr.Sibley’s tweets on twitter!
Day 2
Dear readers,
You are lucky that fingers are used to type because if we had to type with feet this post would not be made!
We have had an incredible day full of nature but as you are aware being out and walking from 9:30 until 5:00 will have a considerable affect on energy levels (children more than adults which is odd seeing as they have youth on their side)!
We started the day with an energy packed breakfast of cereal and toast with beans or preserves! ‘There was just beans, beans on toast, or, just toast’ Ed M5. We dusted off our walking boots and headed into the beautiful scenes of Hooke court and the surrounding area.
Our friend Margaret gave us plenty of information along the way! She talked to us about animals’ footprint and dropping identification, fungi and even berries. Some of us tried wild blackberries for the first time.
A first for all staff was seeing Georgina air borne! Of course the countryside has several gates along the public footpaths. None of which had disables access! Did we turn around and go back? NOooo! We demonstrated our excellent teamwork and lifted her over in style (much to the amusement of Georgina and the rest of Year 5). We have re named her off road wheelchair ‘The Throne’.
A delicious lunch of sandwiches, crisps, an apple and a penguin bar magically appeared at half past twelve! Not to mention the much needed toilet break. After refreshments, the children listened intently as they realised they would be wading through the mighty Hooke Stream! Margaret showed us how to measure the speed and depth of a river and we are going to create our own cross section diagrams when we return to school. Of course walking in the river caused a lot of entertainment – some of our wellies gradually got heavier as water trickled over the top!
On return to Hooke Court we collapsed on the grass and benches (Miss Burkett led the way) and gulped down some much needed drinks! A bit of free time ensued (nothing too active surprisingly) before tea. Here are some more snippets from the reflection diaries today:
‘Day 2. Well today we have had a tired day but one great day’ Holly
‘The air was full of cowpat’ Beth
‘The beautiful scenery was breathtaking’ Charlie
‘PS, it’s fantastic here’! Archie
‘There were some cobwebs that sparkled like jewels’ Josh H B5
‘The worst bit – I nearly got locked in a loo. The best thing was spotting the wild boar droppings’ Callum B5
‘At first I was tired but all of a sudden I was full of energy like Buzz Lightyear’ Emma
‘The spiders have been making pretty impressive cobwebs, not only were they big but they look like diamonds’ Adam .
The evening events reversed tonight with M5 doing the shell craft and B5 doing the night line. We won’t put details here in case Year 4 are reading as it will spoil the surprise for next year!
That’s our last post for the trip but Mr Sibley will continue to tweet until we arrive back on Friday!
Sweet dreams,
The Hooke Court Crew (Longwell Green Contingent)
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