Year 6 set off on their long-anticipated trip to Castleton this morning. After boarding the coaches on Hillcrest, we set off on our journey up the M1 towards Castleton. Along the way, we were greeted with some wonderful scenery (once we had left the M1 of course!) and arrived in Castleton safely at 12.00. Once greeted by some of the staff, we took a short walk to the Hollowford Centre and were taught how to put a duvet cover onto a duvet- a learning curve for many of us! With a jam-packed itinerary, we had no time to spare, so after a quick lunch, we were introduced to our instructors for the week and headed off to our first activity. Groups 1 and 8 were the first groups to head off site; a quick journey to Miller’s Dale for an afternoon of abseiling. Despite the downpour of rain, spirits were high as the children were taught how to safely and correctly secure themselves into a safety harness and shown the ropes (literally!) to prepare to abseil down the face of the bridge. Many of us faced our fears and descended towards the river below. For groups 2 and 7, it was a trip to Higger Tor which welcomed us with some fantastic views (and some diagonal rain!). It was up to the children to squeeze and wiggle their way through small crevices and cracks – it required lots of determination and even some flexibility! Back on site, groups 4 and 5 had to put their teamwork and logic skills to the test and solve their instructors’ problems. Once they had completed this, the collaboration continued on the assault course where the groups had to manoeuvre their way across many different obstacles. On the lake, group 3 had to use their engineering skills to build a raft and set sail across the waters without capsizing! Finally, group 6 made their way up to the top of the climbing wall, tackling a variety of courses and then discovered their inner Katniss Everdeen on the archery field. After a busy afternoon, we returned to Hollowford for a delicious dinner and spent the night quizzing. A good night’s sleep is now needed in preparation for another day full of activities tomorrow!
