On Monday 27 June, Year 6 travelled to Swanage, Dorset, for their end of year residential trip, run by Cumulus Outdoors. Accompanying them were Mr Gaertner, Mrs Arbuckle, and Mrs Mersh on her last outing with the Prep School. The pupils quickly settled in to the bell tents that were home to them for the weekend, located on a site near Corfe Castle. The magnificently muddy Mud Run was a highlight; complete with mud slides and mud swims before pupils cleaned off in a stream. Three teams battled it out for numerical and territorial superiority in the Tag Archery session – imagine a safe combination of archery and paintballing!
They also enjoyed a beautiful morning kayaking on the lake, working on balancing challenges (with expected outcomes) and playing ball games. The last day included a ride around Swanage Bay on a rigid inflatable boat, enjoying a closer look at Old Harry Rocks, and holding on fairly tightly as they crashed over the waves. Before setting off for home, the group had a wonderful time at the waterpark where it seemed the pupils only agenda was to push the teachers or instructors into the water, or do somersaults off the inflatables! Everyone had a memorable week, and it was wonderful to hear the pupils still reciting ‘Hello, my name is Joe’ – one of the songs they learnt on camp – when they returned to School.
