The joy of day 2 - you have to WAKE them up this morning! They ALL want to stay asleep!
Wednesday
Well, a late night and an early morning! Never a good combination! The children now realise why not going to sleep at the right time has consequences at 6.50am!!
Early breakfast is a trial....up early, showered and dressed and down for breakfast and packed lunch duty! The children had a wide range of breakfast goodies – fruit juice, cereals, toast and bacon! While having breakfast they all 'made' their sandwiches, got fruit, yogurt, crisps and a biscuit they were ready! It was back up the hill AGAIN to tidy up, get ready for the first activity and.....room inspection! Cue the puzzled looks! 'Room Inspection????' they chorused?
So, the morning activities were archery for two groups and kayaking for one. The weather was quite overcast and windy and so the loch had transformed from its usual early morning calm to being quite rough!
So the kayakers dawned their waterproofs, life jackets and got a paddle and they were off!
They got the kayaks all lined up on the water side and then went through some exercises with the oars before being let loose on the water! They start off in a sheltered area so they get a chance to get acquainted with the kayak and the intricacies of using the paddle! They were having great fun and before long they were heading out of the sheltered area onto the loch and had soon disappeared round the headland on the way to the haunted shed!
The other two groups were honing their archery skills. Bows were collected and the arrow rack was taken over to the two archery areas. Each group had six targets to use and so worked in pairs. They received instruction – as this is potentially a dangerous activity – and before long they were discovering that it is not quite as easy as they think! At first it is ...lets try to hit the target or lets get enough power to get the arrow to stick in the target! Then it is trying to hit the bulls eye – a very tricky feat!
After a while they are then 'baking a cake' – trying to hit the different colours in order to bake a cake without hitting the black which means they have burnt it and have to start again!
So after two and a half hours the two groups were showing signs of improvement and were taking part in the set challenges with great gusto!
So it was back up the hill for lunch and a SHORT seat and then it was off to get changed for the afternoon session. The Sharks were going skiing and the whales and the starfish were going kayaking. So it was plenty of layers and waterproofs as the morning group all complained of getting very wet! The skiers needed long sleeves and jeans so that they would be 'protected' a little when they fell over!
The skiers spent the first part of the session getting kitted out! First they have to try and remember what size feet they have! Then they need to fight with a pair of ski boots! This is easier said than done....and then they needed to do their moon walk to get to the slope. They were given skis and then had to figure out how to get them on and attached to the boots! Next they have to move with the ski boots and skis attached to their feet. So within 5 minutes they have to contend with a whole range of new skills and experiences! Then they are told they are going to go up a hill and slide back down! On purpose!
Anyway, they had a great time and as happens every year some of them take to it like a duck to water while some find it a real challenge. For some fear is the main obstacle and I for one can fully understand that one.
The kayakers were all togged up and had their life jackets and paddles and had to get the kayaks down to the waters edge! Team work moving the kayaks was the order of the day and they were soon ready for the off.
Initial fear for some is quickly overcome and they are soon paddling round the sheltered bay getting the hang of propelling the kayak forward, stopping it (occasionally by crashing into someone else) and turning. They then spend some time in the fish pond and once they are all more confident they head out into the loch. The wind in the loch was strong and the waves would catch the kayak if you were side on to them. This caused some of them a little fear but they all rose to the challenge. Infact some of the girls did not venture far out initially but they all went out into the loch before the end of the session and really challenged themselves. This is the great thing about activities like this – you see the children begin to challenge themselves and begin to think they can do this!
So one group went to the shop after they had been skiing and of course they set the rest off because they saw some of the things they had bought! Watch out for the tiger print snake!!
Tea was tomato soup, pizza, sausages and chips followed by pancakes and ice-cream. Plates were empty and the chatter was loud! We then came back to the hall for a bit of quiet time before going down early to go to the park and to play football.
The evening activity was 'wayfinding'. They are put in teams of two or three and given a map to find 15 different locations round the setting. Many set off with great gusto and there was great competition to win. The two teachers from Longside only came in SECOND!
We came back for a bit of time in the hall and they had juice and a biscuit and by now all the children are mixing well from both schools, They played some games with Mr Taylor and some actually asked if they could go to bed!
So...time will tell if they get to sleep better tonight.
Tomorrow we are looking forward to Mr Imlah joining us at lunchtime. We have skiing, archery, raft building and problem solving tomorrow!
A GOOD DAY TODAY – AND THE CHILDREN REALLY SEEM TO BE ENJOYING IT.