Bramley Lakes 2008The weather forecast for the week was better than last year with the rain predicted for Wednesday afternoon as the second group arrived! Meanwhile the first group were predicted no rain with sun and cloud being the norm. On arriving at the Bramley Lakes Outdoor and Adventure Centre pupils quickly put up their tents (some with help!) and settled in to their new homes. After a tour of the centre, the activities soon began. Groups may have started with Rafting or Canoeing; both involved navigating around the lake and also guaranteed a complete and utter soaking by the end of the session. Stuart the new canoeing instructor was very keen to keep them active and at times not even in their canoes! The boats all stacked on top of each other in the middle of the lake, was very impressive. The ‘Tower’ had three parts; Climbing, Abseiling and the Zip Wire. Many fears were conquered on the tower as pupils launched off the tower on the Zip Wire or perched over the edge when abseiling. Archery was a quieter activity, until the balloons had to be burst! The new High Ropes saw pupils climb to the top of the challenging Jacobs Ladder, and lean out as a group from the tall and small table top. Camp Craft had pupils orienteering around the centre, plotting a path through a minefield, playing 40-40 in the woods and also getting very muddy in the puddles in the wood. The final activity was low ropes that saw great teamwork allow the groups to get round the Low Ropes course. After the activities in the evenings pupils also took part in the Great Egg Race on one night, and the other evening had pupils taking part in a Talent Show. Weird and wonderful performances all round although Simon Cowel may not have been so impressed! On to the next group, who arrived in sunshine and managed to escape rain for the most part of the week – except at the bottom of the Zip Wire where the Canoeists lurked! The second group settled in very quickly and matched the first group for all the qualities we encouraged for the week – co-operation, manners, consideration, discipline, tidiness, giving new activities a go (especially the scary ones!) in fact both groups were inseparable except for the Camp Fire entertainment – the second group shaded that one. A superb week was enjoyed by everyone, from pupils to staff. Hopefully many of the aspects of teamwork, communication and co-operation that have been developed during the week will be carried forward into everyday life! Below are a few photos of each activity, if you are a pupil at Neatherd then many more images and a few videos can be found on the schools’ network. You can also see a video of the trip on the school blog!
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