Year 2 Tattenhall Residential
Date: 10th Jul 2022 @ 3:28pm
What a pleasure it was to take Year 2 on their first residential! It was a delight to see their enjoyment, confidence and teamwork across the two days although I have no doubt that they were ready for a good rest by Friday evening!
After an exciting coach journey on Thursday morning, we arrived at the centre for a health and safety briefing and a tour of the centre. It was then time for our first activity – pond dipping. Working safely in our groups, we were able to catch and identify a variety of creatures, including: newts, tadpoles, blood worms, freshwater shrimp, pond skaters, water mites, water beetles and a waterlouse! We then returned the creatures safely to the pond and gave our hands a good wash. It was then time for a picnic lunch outside. Our next session involved a rotation of three activities. One of the activities was ziplining! We were so proud to see all 30 children completing the zipline and it was the highlight of the residential for many of the class. In addition to the confidence displayed as children scaled the ladder and shouted with joy as their feet left the platform, it was wonderful to see the teamwork shown when children were belaying or cheering for their friends. The next activity was a low ropes course with Alex. The children particularly enjoyed swinging on the rope during this activity! The final activity was a series of problem solving challenges with Mr McAulay, including a ‘the floor is lava’ style challenge, transferring a ball using ropes as a team and ensuring the whole team travelled under a bar. This was all such fun and definitely helped us to work up an appetite in time for tea! After enjoying our meal altogether, it was time for our final activity of the day. We all sat around the campfire as we learnt about the fire triangle and then worked on creating sparks with a flint and steel. This helped us to light a piece of cotton wool! Paul used these same techniques to light our campfire and we then sang some of our favourite songs, from ‘My Lighthouse’ to ‘Baby Shark’. It was then time to toast marshmallows. What a delicious treat to end our day! Next, we all enjoyed an hour of playtime to help us to feel ready for bed! Mr McAulay was challenged to a game of football whilst Miss Witham tried to avoid being tagged in Stuck in the Mud. At last, we headed inside, hiding quietly in the room to surprise Mr Cotton with a cake, balloons and a card. When he arrived, we leapt out with a shout of ‘Happy Birthday!’. Finally, we enjoyed a film and hot chocolate before getting into our pyjamas and listening to a story.
On Friday morning, the children (and Mrs McLean!) had a rather early start so sat quietly to watch a film. It was then time to get ready for the day and strip our beds. It was then time to enjoy the much anticipated breakfast of cereal, toast and a cooked breakfast. We then set off to walk the Millennium Mile, spotting several physical and human features on the way. To finish our walk, we played in the park and enjoyed the sunshine whilst eating an ice cream. It was then time to return to the centre to collect our packed lunches and get on the coach to travel to Utkinton. It was so lovely to be welcomed by another CDAT school to enjoy a long playtime together. The children all played together beautifully and enjoyed exploring a new playground. Eventually, it was time to return to school. This coach journey was noticeably quieter than our journey on Thursday morning!
Year 2, you were an absolute joy to take on residential and we hope that you thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I am looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow for an exciting, sunny week.
Miss Witham
