Year 6 have already been very busy at Avon Tyrell. Their first challenge was the ‘egg drop’ which saw the children (mostly) succeed in protecting their eggs against breakage when they were thrown out of the window. The winning design involved a fabulous, gliding parachute and a lot of sellotape! Our first evening was spent exploring the grounds on a night walk where the children made and drank pine needle tea.

A packed first day started with a hearty breakfast before it was time to tackle the climbing wall. The children showed fantastic skill, perseverance and bravery with many of them reaching the top. Even the most anxious climbers made it to half way with the support and encouragement of their peers.Team work was required next on the low ropes, where the children had to work together to succeed. All of them talking at once soon gave way to the sharing of ideas and some excellent cooperation.
In the afternoon more teamwork was required for building shelters. The winning team produced an outstanding shelter which actually kept them dry despite the ‘rain’ test (bucket of water thrown at them). Despite their hard work, not all teams remained quite so dry.

The last session of the day saw the children split into two groups. Whilst half of them were honing their bush craft skills and toasting doughnuts over a fire, the other team took to the water. Getting over some initial nerves, the children proved themselves to be naturals in their kayaks, zooming across the lake and competing in various games. And thankfully, nobody fell in!