Year 6 Residential 2018
Monday 26th February 2018
We arrived at the PGL Centre at Windmill Hill, Bexhill-on-Sea after a smooth (but quite long!) journey on the minibuses. Thank you to Sarah and Miss Gilliam for your excellent driving skills! Some of the children had just reached the breaking point of 'Are we nearly there yet?' when the PGL logo came into view and we arrived at the centre. We were met by our group leader Melody who showed us around the centre and took us to our cabins. Before we knew it - it was time for dinner and then our first evening activity - "Ambush". Working in teams we played an enormous game of hide and seek - one team hiding together and one team searching together. The hiding team left clues with cones (and were also allowed to leave some trick clues along the way). It was a lot of fun. We even had face paints to look like camouflage (even Miss Marshall and Mr Trodd!!). After the game ended, it was back to the cabins for a good night's sleep, ready for the excitement that waits for us tomorrow...
Tuesday 27th February 2018
We all woke early on Tuesday morning to a wonderful surprise - a blanket of snow covering the grounds of the PGL Centre. As you can imagine, we were very excited by this and had a fantastic time playing and building mini snowmen. After breakfast we completed our morning activities of Giant Swing and Sensory Trail. For Giant Swing - think of a garden swing but on a massive scale. Wearing harnesses, the children were securely attached to the swing before being hoisted high into the air and bravely plunging back down! As you can see from the pictures below, it caused some very surprised faces! Sensory Trail was also great fun. We lost the sense of sight whilst wearing special blindfolds. We learned the importance of good communication by playing some games before embarking on the actual sensory trail. The route took us over different surfaces and through different obstacles and was quite a challenge at times (and it was made even more challenging with the snow!). After lunch we completed our afternoon activities of Rifle Shooting and Trapeze. The rifle shooting was great fun and everyone learned a lot, and could see improvement throughout the session. Trapeze was a climbing activity where those who reached the platform at the top of a pole could take the 'Leap of Faith' and hang from a trapeze! Everyone also learned a lot about rope safety. Finally, after dinner it was time for an evening entertainment called 'Passport to the World' - a mix between a treasure hunt and a general knowledge quiz. Everyone fell into their beds at the end of the day (including Miss Marshall and Mr Trodd!!) exhausted, but having had an amazing day and looking forward to the challenges and fun of Wednesday...
Wednesday 28th February 2018
Our day began, of course, with a welcome breakfast and then it was on to the morning's activities. We began with climbing and Aeroball. The climbing we had completed yesterday as part of the Trapeze activity proved to be useful practise and some children amazed the adults with how high up the wall they were able to climb. We all set ourselves our own goal and tried to achieve it, no matter how high up the wall that target was. Aeroball was a great fun game involving mini trampolines and target goals. It definitely warmed us all up! After recharging over lunch, we went on to our next activities which were Challenge Course and All Aboard. Challenge Course was an obstacle course which required a wide variety of skills, and All Aboard was another climbing activity where the goal was for as many people as possible to reach the platform at the top of a pole. This proved to be a tricky challenge, but a few children were able to enjoy the view from way up high! After dinner, our evening entertainment was 'Wacky Races' - a wide variety of team races that needed not only athletic ability but also acting (see if you can spot the photos where children were pretending to be a chicken laying a giant egg!). A particular highlight of this entertainment for Miss Marshall and Mr Trodd was the shoe race, where they had the exciting opportunity to throw all the children's shoes in every direction around the sports hall. Another brilliant day!
Thursday 1st March 2018
Another day, and another set of adventures! We began the day with Orienteering and Zipwire. During the orienteering activity, we learned about map symbols and how to locate places using a map. After playing some fun games, we set off around the site in small groups to find various number locations and collect stamps to prove that we had found them. Zipwire was a very exciting activity! Courage was needed to step from the tower and then it was like we were flying! After lunch we moved on to Archery and Jacob's Ladder. In archery, we learned about the different parts of the bow and how to fire the most accurate shot towards the target. Mr Trodd was most impressed with some of the high scores achieved by children in his group (especially as he only scored 9 on his go!). Jacob's Ladder was a team climbing activity - working as a team to get up as high as possible within a set time. Despite the challenges, the children worked really hard and supported each other well and were surprised by what they could achieve. Our evening entertainment then followed after dinner - Robot Wars! We completed various activities to earn points which turned into equipment and then one member of each group was 'dressed' as a robot with various pieces of cardboard and other recycled materials before being sent into battle! Everyone had a very enjoyable day and created lots more memories of the residential.
Friday 2nd March 2018
Our final morning gave us the chance to take part in one final activity. Group 1 completed the Tunnel Trail and Group 2 worked together as a team to solve problems and puzzles (some of which were quite tricky!). Then, we watched a DVD while we waited for the minibuses to arrive.
We have had a brilliant time and are looking forward to getting home for a nice sleep! Thank you to all the PGL staff for making our visit so memorable, and to all the Westcourt staff who worked behind the scenes to make sure the trip was a success!
