Bushcraft Adventures with Year 6!
After several checks of the weather, Wednesday 4 June brought about the Year 6 residential! A coach full of excited children made the short journey to Penshurst Place where they would be spending the next three days fully embracing the wilderness and developing their outdoor skills. Upon arrival, there may have been a little drizzle in the air, but this was not going to dampen their enthusiasm! After a quick tour of the site and demonstration of effective knots to use, children were split into three tribes, and it was straight into building shelters. They thought very carefully about the design and structure of their shelters and we were all very impressed with the detail they went to, from intricate spiral pathways to the toilets.
After a hearty lunch to fuel ourselves for the afternoon, it was time to build campfires. Children had the opportunity to do this themselves…with careful supervision of course. Who knew that all you needed was a bit of flint, some cotton wool and a bit of Vaseline? Next up – camouflage and concealment! After applying the camouflage (subtly for most of them) to themselves – and a few of us teachers – they were taught tactics to hide in and amongst the woodland areas and evade capture from each other. They then put their skills into practice in several evasion games. The award for ‘most innovative’ had to be Kimi, who laid down on the ground and covered himself in leaves, slowly crawling to his target…no one saw him coming! Our newly built fires were put to work to cook delicious burgers for dinner. After a few more games and a nighttime treat of s’mores, it was time for bed.
The children were up nice and early on day 2 and were advised to dress in waterproofs for the day! As always, whether it was rain or shine, we had a big bunch of happy, smiling children. A hot breakfast was followed by an introduction to First Aid and what they might need to do to save someone’s life if injured out in the wilderness…and you never know when this will be required (keep reading). The activities continued and children were taught safe knife skills and used them to great effect, making tent pegs (which hopefully made it home). Rope is an essential tool to have when out exploring the wild, but can take up valuable room, so children were taught how to make survival bracelets using paracords that can be worn around their wrists. Not only an essential piece of equipment, but a stylish accessory that goes with anything. Time for lunch and it was homemade, stone-baked oven pizzas on the menu…the very big kind too!
It was time for the children to go on a ‘wilderness walk’ but a few of the teachers decided against the trek through the countryside. However, mid-walk, disaster struck! Smoke could be seen coming from the trees and cries of help could be heard in the distance! The teachers that had stayed behind had decided to go for a little plane ride and had crash landed. An SOS call from the tribe leaders beckoned – it was time for the children’s first aid skills to be put to the test. Could they save their teachers? Who were they going to save first? Luckily, they didn’t panic and went straight to work, assessing the situation and successfully took us away from danger, saving our lives!
With all that stress and hard work, it was time for dinner. The muffins and hot chocolate by the fire after dinner gave everyone a well earned treat. No Year 6 residential would be complete without a talent show, so after spending a short time rehearsing, we were treated to a whole host of amazing performances from comedy sketches and original songs to dancing and impressions. It was however Edward who stole the show with his Shakespearean monologue that left everyone transfixed…a very popular decision for the winner. Off to bed a little later with a sound night’s sleep for all.
Our final day on camp and we began with a full English breakfast to fill our stomachs for the morning’s activities. We were given a demonstration of pannassing, a traditional way of cooking salmon, in which it is de-boned, butterflied and then cooked over an open fire for about four hours. To the disappointment of a few, no eyeball eating this year, but we did get to try the delicious salmon before we left camp.
Our last activity of the trip was learning to make traps. You never know what you’ll need to catch out in the woods. This year, the aim was to build a trap strong enough to catch a tribe leader! Using either Maltesers or an emotional and injured Ruby (superbly acted), the tribe leader was lured into the traps and caught! Our final meal on camp followed and then it was time to bid farewell to the Bushcraft adventure and our Year 6 residential. Teachers and children alike returned tired and with bags of dirty washing, but most importantly…happy memories that will hopefully last a lifetime!
Well done Year 6!
Mr Snow
