Hello from Kingswood,

Children have really settled well and they are a credit to you all - fantastic manners on display; they are kind, caring and motivating towards each other; and they are putting their metacognitive skills and attitudes to brilliant effect!

Monday started with groups taking part in Jacob’s ladder. This required them to work with a partner to climb up a huge wooden ladder. Finn was brilliant - he got all the way to the top! Skye, May, Owen, Leo, Ellie, Sofia, Hannah and Aaron all demonstrated resilience and kept on trying even though it was tough.

The weather then decided to do its worst as we headed off to orienteering. Again, collaboration was the aim of the game and children worked in groups to follow maps and remember codes.

After lunch, children were given giant Meccano sets and asked to make the tallest tower. Hope, Kyla, Evie, Evan, May, Amber, Sophie, Katie, Sofia, Lexi, Mia and Leo all worked particularly brilliantly with their groups, engaging resilience and communicating effectively. They then had to design their own unique inventions and pitch them to the ‘Dragons’ in the den; the Zimmer-wheel, the SPB (Solar Powered Boat) and the Clock-a-frame all had their own USPs (reasoned by the teams) and so their diplomatic teacher awarded them all funding.

After this, it was on to bottle rocket making where more collaboration was needed - all designs were fantastic, some more aesthetically pleasing than others! Luke, Ethan, Abbie, Poppy, Lucy S, Lucy L, Leo, Finn, Ollie and Sofia were all in their element in this task!!

Go-karting was great fun too. William did loads of donuts and went backwards round the track, thoroughly enjoying himself - Jenson Button eat your heart out!! -  and Alfie and Evan won the timed laps. George arrived with us just in time for a few laps of the track too! Orla was amazing at motivating everyone and taking pride in her own and others’ achievements.

After tea, there was just time for Bella, Sofia and Kyla to take on Mrs S at Boggle before the camp fire. Luckily, the weather had cleared and we could be outside. We had 5 leaders setting us up with a roaring fire, loads of stories and songs plus hot choc and marshmallows.

Participation from all children has been fantastic - we are very proud of what they’ve achieved so far. Keep following our tweets via the school website for up-to-date pictures.

Miss T, Mrs S & Mr C

Hi everyone,

A quick update about yesterday's activities. The morning saw us all having a go at 'side by side' - buggy driving with a passenger. Children enjoyed having to put it in gear to go and having a reverse parking challenge at the end. Theo was in his element and Jen really pushed herself to try something new!

Then it was on to abseiling - some children who were afraid of heights just went to the top of the tower, others were happy to walk their way down. Special mention goes to Charli and Tate as they were very frightened yet pushed themselves to do it!

Other activities involved laser quest (lots of fun and giggling involved), aeroball (bouncing on a trampoline whilst trying to score baskets), orienteering and team challenge (physical problem solving). We really had a good day!

After starting our packing, we had movie night and watched 'home'. Miraculously no one fell asleep during the film.

We celebrated world book day with a bit more of our novel, shared highlights of our day and then it didn't take long for us all to get to sleep!

This morning we've fuelled up and we are off to our last activities. Dorms are clear and our luggage pile seems to have grown!

The children have done you all proud whilst we've been away. I am very proud of their behaviour around the centre and also the way they have supported each other. It has been a really great trip.

We are all looking forward to seeing you later,

The Kingswood team 

Good morning from sunny (but windy) Kingswood!

Yesterday was great. Poor Ruby had a rude 'happy birthday' awakening and leap of faith day had arrived!!!

All of the children were fantastic - children climbed up the tower as far as they felt comfortable. For some, this was half way, for others it was up to the platform (Brandon, Ruben, Keira and Charli were chuffed to bits with getting so far and being scared of heights); for the acrobatic dare-devils, it meant clambering up onto the platform, standing up, inching towards the edge and then leaping off whilst trying to grab the bar. Olivia was thrilled with herself for being such a risk-taker as were Oscar H, Eve, Freya, Oscar R, Billie, Jen, De Sharai, Fin, Lily, Jenna.

After all the excitement, it was time for some of us to do bushcraft. Miles and Eve loved it and got very stuck in to keeping their fires burning! There were lots of problem solving challenges too - Jenna was completely absorbed! 

Both groups took part in nightline - very amusing for the teachers watching. Children had blindfolds and had to lead each other over obstacles. Jen and Kyle displayed excellent team work, as did Charlie C and De Sharai. Seeing Charlie dangling over some tyres with his legs in the air and a massive smile on his face was classic! 

We had birthday cake at tea and all sang happy birthday before racing back to the dorms to get ready for the D I S C O!! Seb, Tate, Theo and Brandon burnt up the dance floor with some help from Tilly, Billie and Jen. 

After all the excitement, it didn't take long after our story and lights out for them all to be sending up little snores!! 

We're currently tearing around in buggies. Fun fun fun!

Sorry about lack of tweets - the wifi is not good!!

See you all tomorrow,

The Kingswood crew 

(P.S. Sausages might not be well received for dinner tomorrow - children have eaten rather a lot of them!!)

Hi everyone,

We had a brilliant day yesterday - one group started with bush craft. This involved den building in pairs and then fire starting. Oscar H, Theo and Charlie C really got stuck in, waterproofing their shelter with ferns.  Billie was very proud of the little extras in her shelter - fully equipped with a broom and rocking-log! Mr Carter turned up just in time to help with the fires. Jen was the best pyromaniac of all though, managing to keep everyone's fires burning! We all learnt a lot about the importance of collaboration and communication.

The other group went off caving and orienteering - Charli S, Ruben and Seb did amazingly well to conquer their fears and take part in cave games. Very proud of them! 

After lunch, the footballers enjoyed tackling Mr Carter - the Kingswood instructors were impressed with the ball skills on display. De Sharai's goal keeping skills were noticed!!

It was then time for go-karting, bouldering and indoor climbing. Mr Jones set up a timed lap competition on the go-karts - there were some very careful drivers who followed the instructions about taking it steady as the track was wet; others threw caution to the wind and put pedal to the metal. Lily was the record holder until Oscar R tore up the track. There was also no stopping Eve.

Bouldering was a challenge - we learnt about the different holds and spotted for each other as we made our way along the wall. We then put climbing skills into practice up the indoor wall. I thought it would be easy - I was wrong!! All children challenged themselves - Tate, Brandon, Keira, Miles & Ruby really persevered and didn't want to stop until their arms gave them no choice. Some of the class were like monkeys though - Freya and Jenna scampered to the top in no time. 

After another yummy dinner (we had pancakes for pudding), there was just time for the girls to sort out Mrs Simpson's and Mr Jones' hair before our mystery evening. Who kidnapped Mickey Mouse?? The children had to interview 5 mischievous characters to work out who had committed the crime. After fierce interrogation, most teams solved the crime. Lots of fun was had by all :)

We continued our story before bed - all slept well and we awoke to yet another sunny morning. Olivia, Fin and Charli S were voted "stars of the day" by their peers for jollying others along, getting stuck in to everything and challenging themselves. Great work! There's no stopping Tilly's high spirits; she's singing non-stop and keeping morale high. Kyle is enjoying the activities but seems to most like having a cup of tea made by me every morning! 

We are looking forward to celebrating Ruby's birthday today with lots of fun activities ahead. Keep your eyes on Twitter - wifi permitting, I'll update it later.

Miss Thompson 

Good afternoon everyone!

Yesterday was action packed. We all got to climb Jacob's ladder in pairs - team work was essential as we clambered up the wooden posts which got further and further apart. Oscar R and Jen were like monkeys - there was no stopping them! No one was too afraid to try.

We also did game creation - Miles was in his element. The second group got to try archery and loved it as much as the first whilst Jenna stood out at problem solving and talking everyone through the challenges.

After a very yummy lunch, we headed down to the beach. We got to put our learning about adaptation into practice on the sea shore. Children rock pooled and found lots of periwinkles, a crab and a blenny fish. Lily really got stuck in!!

With an incoming tide and several sets of soggy feet, we made our way back up to the centre to write up our findings on the computers.

Dinner too was delicious - waistbands are being expanded! A dorm inspection was promised so the children spent time sorting out their rooms; the adults were then very impressed by 4 incredibly organised dorms - scores of 9.99, 9.98 and 9.97 were received, they were that good!

We chose to have our camp fire indoors due to wind and rain so had a pleasant hour having a sing-song, a joke-off (Fin and Seb were the winners) and some riddles over hot choc and marshmallows.

Showers were had and then we had a snuggle up in the corridor under duvets with a story before bed. It didn't take the children long to get to sleep (after they'd told Miss Thompson off for laughing too noisily)!

We've had a great start to today - keep your eyes on Twitter!

The Kingswood team :)

Good afternoon everyone!

Yesterday was action packed. We all got to climb Jacob's ladder in pairs - team work was essential as we clambered up the wooden posts which got further and further apart. Oscar R and Jen were like monkeys - there was no stopping them! No one was too afraid to try.

We also did game creation - Miles was in his element. The second group got to try archery and loved it as much as the first whilst Jenna stood out at problem solving and talking everyone through the challenges.

After a very yummy lunch, we headed down to the beach. We got to put our learning about adaptation into practice on the sea shore. Children rock pooled and found lots of periwinkles, a crab and a blenny fish. Lily really got stuck in!!

With an incoming tide and several sets of soggy feet, we made our way back up to the centre to write up our findings on the computers.

Dinner too was delicious - waistbands are being expanded! A dorm inspection was promised so the children spent time sorting out their rooms; the adults were then very impressed by 4 incredibly organised dorms - scores of 9.99, 9.98 and 9.97 were received, they were that good!

We chose to have our camp fire indoors due to wind and rain so had a pleasant hour having a sing-song, a joke-off (Fin and Seb were the winners) and some riddles over hot choc and marshmallows.

Showers were had and then we had a snuggle up in the corridor under duvets with a story before bed. It didn't take the children long to get to sleep (after they'd told Miss Thompson off for laughing too noisily)!

We've had a great start to today - keep your eyes on Twitter!

The Kingswood team :)

Hi everyone,

After our arrival yesterday, we met our leader Gareth and found out that we are the only school here until Wednesday so we've got the best accommodation. Brilliant!

Beds were made fairly quickly (some of the class' first challenge!) and then we were ready for our first activities.

One group got wet and muddy straight away in the caves - smiles all round; the other group became Robin Hood and tried archery. They now have another string to their bows (sorry, couldn't resist!) - special shout outs to Freya, who persevered and concentrated so hard even though she struggled at first, and to Brandon, who was in his element!

Then dinner - great choice of pasta or fajitas - most children even raided the salad bar. Celebrations were had for Jen's birthday - her cakes were absolutely delicious!!

After a little time for our dinners to go down, we were off to the pool. I had a whale of a time (and more importantly, so did the kids)! Floats, balls, disco music...what else could you want?

We had hot choccy before a story under duvets, then bed! Children settled quickly and are up and full of beans this morning. Grapefruit was a hit at breakfast!!

Currently they are making games and climbing Jacob's ladder. The only area they could possibly improve on is their shouting skills...their team chants need work. I'm sure by Friday there will be no stopping them!

Love from all at Kingswood :)

Bet you wish you were here!

Miss T, Mrs S, Mr J and Mr C

Good morning everyone,

It is a glorious day here and children are riding quad bikes before a visit to the beach - it is sunblock and shades as order of the day.

For any parents who have forgotten that delightful musty, fusty aroma of slowly rotting clothing, do not worry; it will all come flooding back (literally) when you open some of the suitcases on Friday. One or two have aired clothing but the majority of wet clothes, despite suggestions to the contrary, have been forcibly stuffed into bags ready for packing. No air and no chance of drying out. Enjoy!!!

However, to more important matters. We all had an amazing day with so much packed in and culminating with 'movie night' and a trip to the 'rip-off' shop to spend our pennies. At least they are learning about monopolies and supply and demand. The children slept through again with no disturbances at all. Today after the beach we have more adventures and tonight it is slick back hair time and prettiest frocks for the disco. The children are all moaning about where the time has gone and about coming home so quickly. Not heard the same from the teachers, but we have enjoyed the company of our lovely class so much.

Anyway I will try and send one more update.

Best wishes and love from all here.....

Mr S, Mr J and Mrs B

Hello from a very wet Kingswood but we hear that Nether Heyford is even wetter.

The difference being that we have been outdoors all day. We keep hearing that Norfolk folk have webbed feet and we think we know why!

Despite this everyone has taken part and morale has remained extremely high. Plenty of cheering and encouragement as everyone took on the challenges to the best of their ability.

So far we have completed more bush craft, more 'leaps of faith' and even more lazer and orienteering. The mission maker programmes are nearly ready to come back with us and our clothes are completely sodden.

Tonight is more activity before our much awaited visit to the beach tomorrow. We have packed extra sunblock just in case!

I can not believe how happy everyone is and I think they will be very sad to leave on Friday but pleased to get home to dry clothes and more sympathy than we can muster.

More news tomorrow.....

Mr S, Mr J and Mrs B