Thank You!
A huge thank you to all staff for their support in delivering another very successful year.
The penultimate day!
The day started off cooler which was a slight relief for all. We started our final full day full of excitement and caked in sun cream. Our main excitement was all of us had a turn canoeing down the river, which led to many pupils and staff having an unexpected swim in the river Don.
Mr Brown’s group started the day with abseiling, happily bouncing down the wall, some even stopped to change shoes half way down. They then went onto night line where they worked hard as a group to navigate the course, in which time they were covered head to toe in mud. They ended the afternoon with Mrs Merrell’s group, having a relaxing meander down the river, that is until Mr Brown fell in playing body part bingo. This evening they climbed Jacob’s ladder, working well in pairs to try to reach the top. Standouts for today were AD on Jacob’s ladder for reaching the top, TC for leading the night line effectively and RG for continuing to smile and laugh as she capsised into the river with Mr Brown.
Mrs Merrell’s group had the opposite morning to Mr Brown’s, starting with nightline and then going onto abseiling. Nightline was extremely muddy, thanks to Mrs Merrell and Miss Megson pouring lots of water onto the course and challenged themselves on the abseiling wall. They all thoroughly enjoyed conoeing and not one of them came off the river dry. Standouts for today were TW on the abseiling wall, doing his best spider man impression, AC for overcoming her fears and standing at the edge of the abseiling wall twice and MM for letting Mrs Merrell join his boat during the canoeing.
Finally, Mr Jackson’s group started today on the river playing games and learning about the rules of the river in canoeing. After lunch they moved onto aeroball and laser tag where they all did there best to make sure Mr Jackson and Miss Kidd didn’t win and sang lots of songs whilst waiting for their goes. They finished the afternoon on the zip wire, giving their best flying impressions, OT even managed to lick his foot mid flight. This evening they took on low ropes, working extremely well together to make sure everyone had a fun, safe time. Standouts for the day were IB for being consistent in getting everybody soaked, RS for going on the zip wire twice after not wanting to have a go and SW for being an excellent spotter on the low ropes.
All are packed and in bed for their final night here at Kingswood. They will hopefully be safely returned to you tomorrow. A little sun kissed, happy and very tired.
Thunder and lightening, very very frightening
Another successful day in the sun with temperatures reaching into the mid-thirties. Our timetable had to be changed during the early afternoon due to a rather impressive thunder and lightening show.
Once up and ready we split into our three groups and set off for more adventures.
Mr Brown’s group started the day with outdoor climbing, followed by laser and aeroball and ending on fencing. Standouts were EBlu who did the climbing wall blindfolded, TC for nearly beating Mr Brown at aeroball, GA for winning the fencing competition and HG and IR showed particular skill in the fencing competition.
Mr Jackson’s group started the day learning how to survive at bush craft followed by the group scaling the outdoor climbing wall. They ended the day on Jacob’s ladder. Standouts in Mr Jackson’s groups were FC and JG for consistent participation in bush craft and JL for reaching the top of Jacob’s ladder. TC also deserves a mention for conquering his fears on the climbing wall.
Mrs Merrell’s group started with archery in the morning where FW and LG wowed them all with their skills, making hitting gold look super easy. They moved onto bush craft and ended the day duelling each other in fencing. The stand out for bush craft was HE for his enthusiasm and encouragement of others and the stand out for fencing was MM for his style and pizzaz with a foil.
We all finished the evening in a cool classroom for the quiz, competing for the prize. Do you know how many Stars and Stripes there are on the American flag? Or the AOL logo?
We’ll be back tomorrow for the next and final update of our adventures.
Fun in the sun
Another great day of activities!
Mrs Merrell’s group conquered the outdoor climbing wall, challenged their fears on leap of faith and showed off their geography skills in orienteering. In Mrs Merrell’s group the stand outs for the day were JH and AM for getting involved with everything and leading the group, JH for her excellent laser skills and DW for overcoming his fear of heights on the climbing wall.
Mr Jackson’s / Miss Kidd’s group became mini Robin Hoods first session, went sword to sword in the fencing and believed they could fly on the leap of faith. In Mr Jackson’s group the stand outs were HW and OT for excellent archery skills, EB for leadership skills, and JD for overcoming his fear of heights!
Mr Brown’s group challenged their survival skills with bush craft, took on their fear of heights with leap of faith and after lunch they went onto archery. Mr Brown’s group stand outs were CB for challenging herself on the leap of faith, GA and RG for excellent archery skills.
All are now settled down heading off to dreamland once again eager to get back out their tomorrow.
Day One Complete
We have come to the end of the first day and pupils are settling down to sleep after an action packed afternoon.The eager anticipation was apparent on all faces, including teachers, as we entered the gates. Once here we immediately got stuck in and all had a go at indoor climbing. Pupils were rocketing up and down the wall and there was a great deal of excited chatter.
The final activity of the day was mini Olympics. There was a definite competitive edge between the groups and somehow, with no cheating, Mr Jackson’s group took first place. We ended the evening with juice and headed back to take on our final challenge of the day, bed making.
All have now completed this and are tucked up, tired out, dreaming of the adventures tomorrow will bring.
Weather Forecast
Most likely dry on all days with long sunny spells. Becoming hot on Tuesday and Wednesday, though there will be a brisk breeze. Please can all students remember to bring sun cream and a water bottle.
Information Update
At 9am Monday morning, please can all students bring their bags to room 2.
Do not forget you need a packed lunch for the Monday.
Full water proof clothing is not needed, although a shower proof jacket is recommended.
Please bring at least two pairs of trainers and plenty of old clothes you are happy to get wet and muddy.
Bring a water bottle to be refilled during the week.
All medication should be given to Mr Jackson on the Monday morning, if not earlier.
Do not bring any phones, iPods, iPads, game consoles, flat screen tvs, home cinema systems etc.
No more than £5 should be brought as spending money. The school takes no responsibility for this money if lost or stolen.
Most activities require you to wear longs sleeves and bottoms.
In an emergency please contact the school as your first port of call.
Daily blog update will take place, wifi dependant.
We plan to arrive back to school on the Friday between 3-4pm, if delayed we will contact parents.
Pre-visit Blog
The aim of this blog is to provide students and parents a real time experience of our annual year 8 visit to Dearne Valley. Between Monday 29th June and Friday 3rd July, 38 Year 8 students will be taking part in an action packed 5 day adventure at the Kingswood activity centre, Dearne Valley.
The staff supporting this visit include Mr Brown (Maths), Mrs Merrell (Maths), Miss Kidd (Music) and group leader Mr Jackson (Geography). Both staff and students will be involved in blogging our adventure.
Links for this blog will be posted on ‘UWS Geography Department’ Facebook page, ‘@uwsgeography’ twitter page and the schools website.
UWS Kingswood Visit 2015 