Over the course of a 4 days, both classes had the opportunity to spend 2 days and a night at Kench Hill for what for many was their first trip away from home. The children thoroughly enjoyed all the activities from archery and orienteering, an almost 4-mile stream walk and animal care, to shelter building, bouldering and night-line obstacle course. They had fun in the evening at our camp fire with hot chocolate and cookies. The food was amazing and the Kench Hill staff looked after us fantastically. Truly a trip the children will never forget…
Gardening
The children had an opportunity to harvest some of the vegetables and salads for lunch!
Animal Care and Wildlife Garden
The children learnt how to care for some of the animals at Kench Hill such as the rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens as well as the ponies, Pongo and Chips. They also had the opportunity to try pond dipping and see what they could find in the water, along with bird watching from the hide.
Stream Walk
On the first afternoon for each group, we went on a countryside walk, including wading through a stream running through some local woods. The children absolutely loved this and have talked about it so much since returning to school.
Archery, Bouldering, Nightline and Orienteering
The children took part in various activities on day 2 including archery, bouldering (travelling across a climbing wall), orienteering and an obstacle course with a difference!
Shelter Building
The children absolutely loved building their shelters. They went out in Badgers’ Wood and, using natural materials from around the site along with some tarpaulin and rope, they built themselves a (hopefully!) waterproof shelter. They learnt how to tie reef knots to secure their shelters.
Campfire, Free Time and Food!
Between activities, the children had free time to explore the grounds, play in the playground area, visit the animals, play football – the only rules were “Don’t climb over fences or go through gates.” At the end of the first day before bedtime, we had a campfire and enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies whilst having a sing song together!