Year 7 Trips

 

STUDY VISIT TO EDALE, PEAK DISTRICT (Autumn 2009)
 
We arrived at the Youth Hostel after a three hour coach ride from school. After lunch, we were placed into our dormitories and put into four groups for the activities we were taking part in over the week. That day, we took part in four activities all about teamwork. They were climbing, an obstacle course, archery and Jacob’s ladder. This was the biggest challenge and involved climbing up a very tall ladder which got more difficult as you climbed to the top. We had to stop our final activity early because of the heavy rain. Later, we did an hour in the classroom on what we learnt about teamwork and some work on maps.
 
The next day we went to Howden and Derwent reservoirs and looked at how tourism and the environment are managed. We had a brief lunch before setting off for the final leg of our walk.   Near the end, Josh, Claudia R, Georgina C and I had a race up a very steep mountain. We all made it to the top and enjoyed the run back down. After we arrived back at the youth hostel and had dinner we made our presentations. My group was trying to win £100,000 to build a mountain biking centre at the reservoir, it was close but the orienteering group won.
 
The next day was the best day. We started off with weaselling which involved climbing through gaps between large rocks, it was exciting and we had to support each other to succeed. After that, we scaled up a cliff, which we all enjoyed. Back at the youth hostel, we had lunch. Then we set off for the water activities. The canoeing was great fun, several people ended up in the water including Mr Roberts! After that, we built a raft for the raft race, everyone got wet, the water was freezing. Fortunately, my team won. After dinner we set off for the night hike. It was beautiful at night, especially with all the stars out. We even got to see two satellites. 
 
The next morning we set off on a long walk up Kinder Scout. It was freezing at the top, however, we did see the site of an old World War II place crash. On the way down, we had lunch which was really good after a cold, windy walk. We then made our way back to the coach once we had all warmed up and headed back to Spratton. It was great to be going home. We all had a great time, I learnt plenty about teamwork and the environment and it was a great experience.
 
By James Bird (7P)
 
 
To see more photographs, click this link to the Gallery. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
STUDY VISIT TO EDALE, PEAK DISTRICT (Autumn 2008)
 
Day 1:
It was a cold winter morning when we arrived at Edale. The country air was clean and fresh; all we could see were lush green hills around us. The Youth Hostel we were staying in was lovely. We were introduced to our team leaders and put into groups. We started the day with a few games and then did some archery. Our group was very good at archery as nearly all of us got a bull’s eye! After archery we got ready for an assault course by getting into groups of three. Everyone was blindfolded which meant that we had to guide each other across the course. We ended the day with some climbing and then scaling Jacobs Ladder (which at first was pretty scary!).
 
Day 2:
Today we walked round Ladybower reservoir which was great fun (apart from all the midges!) During the walk we saw lots of wildlife and the views were amazing! It definitely tested our fitness. We all managed it though and at the end of the walk our legs felt like they were about to fall off!
 
Day 3:
Our last full day and definitely the best! We went canoeing and rafting. Our group had to build a raft and race against the other group. We won but got very cold and wet because we fell in the lake! Afterwards, we went weaseling and rock climbing which was thrilling! Weaseling is when you crawl through lots of small gaps in rocks. I managed to fit through all the holes, although they were a tight squeeze! The rock climbing was on a sheer rock face and was quite challenging as I am scared of heights! In the evening, we went on a night hike and took our torches. We all hid behind trees and jumped out at each other. This was great fun!
 
Day 4:
This was our final day and we went for a long hike up Kinder Scout. This was a very tiring walk as the heather slowed down our movements and the peak was extremely steep! When we arrived at the top we could almost see the whole of Edale and the views were breathtaking! Edale was all about building our teamwork and working together. I believe we all enjoyed ourselves and vote this as the best school trip our year has been on!
 
By Emma Blackwood (7M)
If you wish to see further photographs please click this link to the Gallery.