Friday, 16 October 2015
Thursday, 15 October 2015
Thursday - Part 1
Our last full day here at Caythorpe has drawn to a close. The children completed their last afternoon activity and a final visit to the shop proved highly exciting. The prize for tonight's room inspection winners, first in the line for boarding the coach tomorrow, proved to be a huge incentive and several rooms turned off their own lights at bedtime before the given time. With extra points available for settling quickly and a quiet night, the competition was very close!
Today proved to be jam-packed with excitement. Our groupies taught us how to slap each other around the face with a fencing gauntlet to challenge an opponent to a duel (not recommended without a mask!) and followed this with lessons on footwork, posture, attack and defence. Once the practising was over, the sword play began with cries of 'en garde!' ringing out around the hall. Points were scored with hits to the chest and the children soon learnt that wild flailing was neither an effective or cultured approach!
'Jacob's Ladder' proved another worthy adversary, even for those with a head for heights. The children kitted up quickly and, with much more confidence than at the start of the week, were soon ready to tackle the vertical climb. A handful of children made it to a very impressive eighth 'rung' which was quite a feat!
Raft building proved to be a great activity for encouraging teamwork. Success on the water depended on every team member playing their part in the construction of the rafts and the children were quick to appreciate that the different stages of building were much easier when they cooperated. Similarly, the highlight of the session for the extremely brave (or foolish) few was the opportunity to throw themselves backwards from the jetty into what felt like ice-cold water.
Lastly, it was onto the field behind the halls of accommodation for a selection of ball games. The weather held and great fun was had by all, as the children worked as a group to develop games and rules.
We finished our final evening with a campfire singalong led by our excellent and highly entertaining Groupie Ryan and his colleague Jeremy, who amused us with their unusual sense of humour. It was great that some of the children were able to lead songs too - the catchier ones I am sure will find their ways home very soon!
Today proved to be jam-packed with excitement. Our groupies taught us how to slap each other around the face with a fencing gauntlet to challenge an opponent to a duel (not recommended without a mask!) and followed this with lessons on footwork, posture, attack and defence. Once the practising was over, the sword play began with cries of 'en garde!' ringing out around the hall. Points were scored with hits to the chest and the children soon learnt that wild flailing was neither an effective or cultured approach!
'Jacob's Ladder' proved another worthy adversary, even for those with a head for heights. The children kitted up quickly and, with much more confidence than at the start of the week, were soon ready to tackle the vertical climb. A handful of children made it to a very impressive eighth 'rung' which was quite a feat!
Raft building proved to be a great activity for encouraging teamwork. Success on the water depended on every team member playing their part in the construction of the rafts and the children were quick to appreciate that the different stages of building were much easier when they cooperated. Similarly, the highlight of the session for the extremely brave (or foolish) few was the opportunity to throw themselves backwards from the jetty into what felt like ice-cold water.
Lastly, it was onto the field behind the halls of accommodation for a selection of ball games. The weather held and great fun was had by all, as the children worked as a group to develop games and rules.
We finished our final evening with a campfire singalong led by our excellent and highly entertaining Groupie Ryan and his colleague Jeremy, who amused us with their unusual sense of humour. It was great that some of the children were able to lead songs too - the catchier ones I am sure will find their ways home very soon!
Wednesday, 14 October 2015
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