Another year, another successful trip to Tolmers.
We turned up, unpacked and went out for our first walk in the woods. After an incredibly hot summer, there was barely a need for walking boots let alone wellies. We spent our time climbing on logs, sliding down dips, climbing on pill boxes, walking along the dried-up river bed and gathering words and phrases for tomorrow's poetry writing. After lunch, there was some free time to play in the grounds - spent building dens.
The afternoon saw the children have a go at canoeing and the high ropes. Unlike most years, no one fell into the lake - although many decided to jump in.
The night time hike gave us a chance to use our torches in the dark. Mr Haynes led us all on a merry journey around the grounds and through some very tight gaps in the trees.
And then it was bed. (All things considered, it was a fairly quiet night.)
On day two, the first session was spent writing poetry based on Tolmers during the day and at night. The second session saw us head into the woods to make up and perform some short stories. We had some very bizarre, but entertaining tales.
In the afternoon, we had a go at the coconut tree climb and archery. There were some bullseyes hit, especially by Mr Bannister - THREE TIMES, but who's counting? Dinner was a pasta/hotdog combo, which went down very well, followed by homemade apple crumble (that definitely wasn't burnt).
The evening activity was a night-time torch-lit quiz challenge. In small groups, the children had to hunt around the grounds in search of paper clues (and Mr Bannister). Well done to Jupiter who were the eventual winners.
Please take a look at the photos below to see what we got up to.