Year 4 and 5's residential trip to the Horstead Centre, Norfolk was a resounding success. Despite fears of homesickness and some challenging activities, the children put aside natural reservations and threw themselves into team building tasks, tower climbing and zip wiring, foraging and cooking on a camp fire, building and climbing on crates (the record was 10 crates high!), rafting and caving. They learnt the value of communication, co-operation and forming collaborative strategies to find solutions to a range of problem solving tasks. They foraged for apples to make jam, picked nettles with their bare hands to brew tea and made bread which they cooked on a campfire then ate with surprisingly tasty results. The children worked in two teams to build and paddle their own rafts. Some children capsized but some made it to the other side of the river and back. Most children decided to jump in the river anyway at the end of the session! Warm showers, hot meals, quizzes, games and the tidy bedroom competitions in the evenings only added to the general enjoyment of the experience.
The children learnt that facing fears and challenging yourself leads to feelings of self pride and confidence. Working in teams means you can accomplish feats that seem impossible at first. Oh, and remember to follow the number one rule the children identified before they left - have fun!