Kilvrough 2014

Welcome to the news page for our trip to Kilvrough Manor, March 17th - 21st.  We will be updating this page throughout the week, so please keep checking back to see how we are getting on!

Departure Monday 17th March

Please remember to be at the school no later than 7:25 on Monday morning, ready to load up the coach and set off for a fantastic week in the beautiful Welsh countryside.

Arrival: the Kilvrough group have safely arrived at the centre and are already making a start on their exciting week of activities!  Keep checking back for more updates during the week.

Click here to visit the Kilvrough Centre website 

Kilvrough Blog

Monday

A great start to the Kilvrough week! The coach journey was long but everyone coped well. There was great excitement when we passed the "Welcome to Wales" sign, though it was still a long way to Kilvrough. We had a nice lunch, then got settled into our rooms and unpacked. After that, we all got our equipment for the week and met our instructors. 

We have spent the afternoon outside in the grounds of Kilvrough Manor, taking part in some different team-building activities and getting to know our instructors better. Some of us went on the ropes course, others climbed trees and solved some difficult problems, and we all had to work as a team to succeed. Everyone had a fantastic time and worked really well together. 

Team A and their instructor Ed, made a great start, though managed to get quite wet in their first task! Melissa and Salina particularly impressed Miss Barton with their leadership skills when thinking about how to solve problems. They were also excellent at supporting the people in their team, even when they were feeling nervous. 

 In Group B, who have Helen as their instructor, Nathan and Codi-Jayne really impressed Miss Phillips by helping others and getting stuck in straight away. In Nathan's words, "It was fantastic!"

Joe, Steven and Sade really helped their group (Group C) by sharing what they learnt last year, and guiding the people they are with to succeed. Everyone was very impressed, especially their instructor Alex. According to Cameron, "it was such an exciting start to the week!"

 We are all heading outside with our torches for our “Nose to the Ground” orienteering activity now. Tomorrow, Group A and Group B are off canoeing, while Group C are caving. Hopefully everyone will sleep well! 

Tuesday

The day started with a lovely cooked breakfast and room inspections. Everyone impressed the teachers with their tidiness, and both of the girls' bedrooms earned bonus points for entertaining the inspectors with their beautiful singing. Then we packed up our lunch and got ready for the day ahead. 

Group A and B both went canoeing on the canal today. We had lots of fun learning the skills, practising  turning and getting faster at paddling. Ellianne and Lewis in Group B made a great team, leading the group and helping others along.

Meanwhile, in Group A, Patrick and Michaela really impressed everyone with their calm confidence in the water - and so did Riley and Salina who made a great team. Hayat spent the whole afternoon begging to go swimming, and was the first to jump in at the end. She had a very big smile on her face as she came out!

Lots of the children enjoyed jumping into the water at the end of the day; even Miss Barton was persuaded to by Alex N and Skye! It was very cold, but luckily we had nice warm clothes to change into. 

Group C spent the day caving and impressed Alex (their instructor) and Mr Green by completing every challenge they faced including the famous "Letter box" and even passing through the "Toilet".

Bethi and Poppy even managed to apply face masks using the mud inside the cave! A special mention for Daniel who was apprehensive before each task but completed every single one.

Everyone is now showered, dry and warmed up. We have just eaten a lovely dinner of curry and rice followed by jelly, and the children are getting wrapped up for some singing around the camp fire and making shelters in the woods. 

Wednesday 

A very exciting 24 hours! Last night we made shelters in the woods, then had a campfire (where we impressed the other school with our singing skills!) and then lay on the grass and spotted some stars and satellites.

Everyone slept well, though the boys woke up very early. Some of the girls had to be practically dragged out of bed this morning!

All three groups joined together today and went to Worm's head, which is right at the western edge of the Gower Peninsula. We walked along the coast and then crossed a rocky tidal causeway. On the way, we looked in some rock pools and had to help each other to clamber over rocks. Pheonix and Rania really impressed all the adults today. Their bags may have been heavy, and they took a tumble or two, but they kept smiling, and were quietly confident clambering over the rocks. Dufuwaa also persevered, even though she found it a little hard at times. She became more and more confident as the day went on, and was really enjoying climbing over rocks and looking for animals by the end. 

 Once we reached the island, we ate lunch while being watched by an inquisitive seal. Then we walked onto the ridge of the island, up a very steep path and looked at the amazing view. After that, we went somewhere more sheltered to try our hands at building fires on the beach. Everyone had a go, and then enjoyed sitting round our fires, drinking some hot chocolate. Jessica really impressed us with her perseverance when using flint and steel to light fires. It took a while to succeed, but they both stuck at it, and were supported brilliantly by their team. Skye was a star all day. She had a really positive attitude and helped her group by pouring them hot chocolate, and then entertained everyone by running through every rock pool possible! 

We finished our activity playing some fun games on the top of the cliff, including run as far as you can scream!

We will all sleep well tonight - we have certainly had our quota of exercise and fresh air today!

Everyone is playing and having fun at the moment, and we are looking forward to a dinner of spaghetti bolognese and cottage pie. Tomorrow, Group A and B are going caving, and Group C are climbing. Everyone is looking forward to overcoming some more challenges as a team.

Miss Phillips, Miss Barton and Mr Green.

Thursday

A very busy day today, so we are a bit late writing this. Everyone has just been tucked up in bed, and all seems to be quiet! An early start tomorrow, so we all need lots of sleep!

Groups A and B made the long and windy trip to the caves. When we arrived, we split into two groups - Group A had a snack and then headed down into the caves for an hour and a half, while Group B ate their lunch and spent some time problem solving. The problems tested their ability to work as a team and included challenges such as untangling themselves from a 'human knot', transporting a tennis ball along a series of tubes and creating a circle of rope which could hold the weight of a child!

The groups then swapped over and in the cave, both groups were able to tackle the challenges of 'Dead Man's Ledge', 'The Letterbox' and 'Santa's Chimney'. It was great fun and many of the children overcame their fears and challenged themself to succeed. 

Alex N and Sharnell were really brave in the caves and able to tackle all the challenges. Despite being very nervous initially, Alex Z really impressed everyone in their group with their determination and calm confidence. Kobi was quite scared of the caves but amazingly positive and surprised everyone by even doing the final challenge!

Group C went climbing today. It was very cold and very wet but, despite the conditions (and the 90 mile per hour wind!), the group did really well at abseiling, climbing and supporting each other. Myles and Jayson have been keeping everyone entertained and amused with their jokes and have been positive team members.