Thursday 16th - The climbing wall.

For part of the morning the groups tried out the climbing wall. First we traversed along it. Then we did some bouldering and then one of the groups did climbing on the wall with ropes and harnesses.
The climbing shoes were a great help for getting a good grip.

Everyone improved greatly having practiced for a while. After this we had a picnic lunch outside in the sunshine which was lovely and warm. The group are a dab hand at making packed lunches now and can create a variety of sandwiches with fillings!

Thursday 16th April 2015 - morning

This morning we had boiled eggs, fresh rolls, toast and cereal for breakfast. Our day was swapped around so we did abseiling and climbing in the morning in our activity groups.
The sun was shining and we were keen to get going for our last day of full on activities.

 All waiting to climb the big tree!

 

Going up!

 

Ready to abseil down.

Some of group B all ready.

 

 Having great fun.

 

The tree was a challenge to climb up and abseil down but almost everyone conquered their fears and gave it a go including Mrs Rendall, Miss Grieve and Bruce. Bruce gets the award of hte day for being the fastest one uo the tree - almost as quick as the squirrel we saw, though it had no safety equipment!

More from Wednesday 15th......

We had lunch in the dining room - sandwiches, crisps, fruit and a chocolate biscuit. We were then ready to get going again making sure we had all we needed with us to cope with the varying weather and  some muddy areas.The weather has been pretty good to us on the whole today with some sunshine and a couple of light showers though it has been quite chilly - not the heatwave we hear is happening in London!
In the afternoon we went to the zipwire and the adventure course. Everyone did the zipwire which was fantastic!

 Getting ready to pull on the ropes.

 Relaxing in the sunshine.

Miss Grieve and some of the girls waiting to go up!

 Woo Hoo!!!!!...............

 Tat was brilliant!

Anticipation.

After this there was still time left to go on the adventure course which everyone did so well! Great perserverance shown by all.

 

I can do this!

 In the cargo net!

 

Almost there...

 

 

Then it was a swim before tea which was carrot soup, spaghetti bolognaise, garlic bread and chocolate mousse! For supper there was flapjack and juice. They are busy watching a film now in the theatre after doing some songs and sharing talents! What a busy day with some tired bodies here...
We are very proud of how well they are trying the challenges and giving their best efforts!

Some of our reflections from the week so far...

Hope - I enjoyed the skiing because I thought I couldn't do it and I was nervous, but I did it and really enjoyed it!

Ella - It's all been good, if I had to choose a favourite part it would be the skiing yesterday.

Jamie - My favourite part of the week so far was the adventure trail.

Aileen - I have really enjoyed the skiing and the zip wire. The food is really yummy, today we had bacon, hash browns and tomatoes.

Chloe R - My favourite part of the week has been skiing. I was scared to begin with because I don't really like heights. It was fun though!

Bradley - I have enjoyed everything this week, in my free time we've been playing tennis and football outside.

Ryan - I liked the zip wire and the adventure course, I fell off a few times!!

Erin - I loved the zip wire today because I've done it before. I was a bit nervous at the top though! I didn't really like the ski slope yesterday but I gave it a go to begin with then I stopped.

Jake - I have loved everything this week! I have liked playing tennis outside - we lost a tennis ball in the burn too!!

Chloe W - Dad was really embarrassing on the bus! When we arrived on Monday, the dinner was really tasty. When it came Tuesday, we had delicious pancakes for breakfast. I fell in the water when we were raft building and I was freezing!! Dry slope skiing was really fun, I got the hang of turning and going up the ski lift. We had steak pie for tea and Eve's pudding. Supper was amazing - marble cake! I loved the zip wire today - it was amazing!

Heidi - I got a buzz from doing the zip wire as I was really nervous. It was great fun and I was really proud of myself.

Wednesday 15 April 2015!

Here we are on day three already!
On the menu for breakfast was bacon, tomato and hash browns along with toast, cereals and juice. This was well received by the group.
Our plans for the day were slightly changed so we started with the Silver Maze and archery in our two activity groups.
They both rose to the challenge of working together to solve problems and earn silver balls around the maze.

 How do we get through these tyres?

 Transporting the team in a net bag.

Working together.

 This needs concentration!

 Trusting each other and having no sight...

Teamwork was essential here in getting across with all the team. Mrs R saw some excellent problem solving skills in action here! Here we are making a drawbridge again to get across the last section of the course.

Here are some pictures from our archery session. We played different games and had great fun. Some folk even got a bullseye!

 Did I get that on target?

 Ready for the gold!

Getting in a good position.

Tuesday 14th April

The boys were up very bright and early this morning, dressed and raring to go. We will see if this continues as the week goes on.
Today we had pancakes and syrup for breakfast. There was also a choice of cereals, toast, juice, tea, coffee, milk.....
Everyone was proficient at making sandwiches for lunch, having had the practice in Hoy last year. Another school arrived at the centre this morning and we will meet tehm properly later on today.
This morning we started with raft building. Firstly, the two groups had to find all the bits of wood for their model version using a map of the centre. All managed this challenge and then went on to build a model and draw up a sketch plan before beginning to construct the raft.
The teams were the 'Fishy Fighters' and 'Heads we win, Tails you Lose'...
There were some very creative ideas for a deluxe raft if they had been allowed a £10,000 budget!
Anyway we headed down to the water and get building. It is always interesting to see how everyone gets on together in this situation and how well the teams work together.
Fortunately, both rafts did float!

 

Making raft plans.....

 

 Making the real thing!

 

 

 

On the water....

 

 

 A bit cold and wet but very happy!.....

After our lunch we got kitted out for the ski slope. There were helmets, boots and skis all to get organised and measured depending on our height. Mrs R struck a deal with one of the P7 girls that she would do the skiing if they did too - the last time she had skied was her own P7 trip which was not yesterday!
Everyone got a feel for wearing the boots and skis and then ventured highter up the slope. The instructors turned the sprinklers on to add some more slippiness. We practiced a variety of things and some of the group even managed to turn left and right in a slalom style!
By the end of the session most of the group were much more professional and had a real sense of achievement.
It was then back in to the centre and then swimming before tea.
For dinner we had steak pie, tatties, broccoli and tatties or cheesy veg pie. This was followed by apple sponge cake and cream. There were a good number of hungry bairns tonight after all the fresh air and even a peedie bit of sunshine too.
They are now having free time before we head to 'Explore' in the theatre with Mosstowie Primary School. It should then be supper and hopefully quite quickly to bed after that......

 Getting kitted out!

 This is fun....

Yipee - I can do it!

 Good balance.

 I did it - success!!!!

 Going up!

Making a pizza....

 Here comes Bruce!

Ready to go again!

 Miss Grieve takes off!

Mastering the art.

 Skills definitely improving!

 We want to ski again please!

 Determination.

 Well balanced.

 Concentration....

 On we go...

This is how it is done!