Group 5: Isabelle H, Phoebie G, Holly F, Ruby-Mae E, Ava M, Olivia F, Grace F, Louis C-S, Oliver H, Korben C, Clayton C and Grayson H

Group 5 have had an amazing first day! We started off with archery, and everyone did amazingly. There were individual and team activities: Holly, Isabelle, Phoebie, Olivia, Ava and Louis were the closest to the mark by hitting the red zone; Greyson and Korben were the next most accurate marksmen, who hit the blue zone; Grace and Clayton hit the black; and Oliver landed his arrows on the white. The team game involved creating a ‘pizza’ by landing on specific colours - white for the pizza box, black for the dough, blue for the toppings, red for the sauce and yellow for cheese. There were some 'interesting' pizzas by the end of it, but fun was had by all!

Next up was the Tree Trek and every single member of the group pushed themselves and got quicker and more confident each time they tackled the course - it was wonderful to see! The zipwire was a brilliant end to the course...with video evidence as a bonus! 

After lunch, we did an activity called High All Aboard, which involved climbing up a telegraph pole with a small square platform on top...then scrabbling over its edge to stand on the platform. It was incredibly challenging but everyone did brilliantly, from making it half way, touching the top, sitting at the top, standing on the top and even a spot of dancing at the top from Holly and Isabelle! The last activity before dinner was abseiling and there were some impressive Mission Impossible-style descents down the wall - wow!

Today has been full of fun, friendship and fabulous get-stuck-in attitudes and we can't wait to do it all again tomorrow...after a good night's sleep! ;)

Day 2 with Group 5 - what a day!

The heaven’s opened on our way to breakfast this morning, but nothing could dampen our spirits for the day ahead. With tummies full of cooked breakfast and cereal, we were ready to tackle our next challenge.
First up today was Indoor Climb; everyone did their best Spider-Man impressions and scaled the wall in their own way! Everyone took it in turns to ‘man’ the climbing ropes and encouraged each other to do their very best. Ava, Liv, Isabelle, Holly, Phoebie and Grace climbed up the tricky green and orange hand/foot holds, whereas Ruby-Mae, Clayton, Oliver, Greyson, Korben and Louis were challenged to climb up the yellow holds followed by the red holds. Everyone took on the challenge at their own level and there was lots to be proud of!

After Indoor Climb came the Fan Descender - most of the group climbed up the tower and stepped out onto the platform multiple times, and descended in increasingly flamboyant style…from flapping fairy wings to various dance moves! Isabelle, Phoebie, Holly, Ruby Ava, Olivia, Grace, Louis and Clayton can be seen (on video) taking flight from the top, and Oliver, Korben and Greyson gave it a really good go. 

Lunch today was a sandwich of our choice, crisps, chocolate and fruit…all enjoyed on the picnic benches in our villages: Roberts Podded Village and Yorks Wood Village. 

Coming soon…the events from this afternoon and evening!

After lunch, we joined Group 6 in the swimming pool, and the time flew as we played and relaxed, until the end of the session…or until we got too cold - whichever came first!
For our session before dinner, we made our way down to Laser Tag - after our briefing, we armoured up and our group (blue team in Laser Tag) fought Group 6 (red team) in a selection of battles designed to test our aim, team work, reasoning and resilience. Red Team won the first ‘team death-match’ convincingly, in which everyone had one ‘life’ in their ‘gun’. The second game, in which everyone had three ‘lives’ (including re-spawns) ended in a draw, and the energy from both teams was amazing. The stand-out warriors from our group were Ava, Grace and Liv, whose work rate was phenomenal! The third game of the session was Capture the Flag; our group were able to choose their base as they were first to make a group decision - democracy in action! Each team was given 1 minute to talk tactics before the battle began. After a well-fought battle, we beat red team, and returned with their flag…victorious! Last, but by no means least, was the final game: hide and seek. Oliver was the seeker from our team and the rest of our group worked with the rest of Group 6 to evade the seekers for as long as possible. 

The first job this morning was getting ready and packed. Mrs Murray was very impressed by those in Yorks Podded Village (Isabelle, Phoebie, Holly, Clayton and Greyson) who got themselves sorted with plenty of time to spare; those in the other village were, no doubt, equally impressive. 

Breakfast this morning was pancakes, toast and cereal, and everyone seemed recharged for the last two activities of the trip. 

Our first activity this morning was crate stack. Up first was Oliver and Clayton, who managed to make a stack 6 crates high, before losing their balance and flying through the air. Next was Liv and Grace, who managed to make a tower 12 or 13 crates high (depending on who you listen to!) and they had to be untangled before being lowered to the ground. Ruby-Mae and Phoebie were up next and, after losing their balance, they took flight from a tower 6 crates high. The next pair to tackle Crate Stack was Louis and Holly, who helped each other up to a height of 8 crates; our instructor (Brad) span Holly round as she dangled in the air, and she pirouetted her way down to the ground! Isabelle and Ava squealed their way to an 11-crate tower before one side fell and the other side was kicked away…much to the cheers of the ‘crowd’! The final pair to build their tower was Greyson and Korben, who helped each other crate by crate. After 7 crates, Korben lost his footing and Greyson helped him back up (with the help of the instructor and the ‘crate passers’ below) with great reasoning and resilience skills on show! 

The last activity of our trip was Dual Zip Wire. After the safety talk, it was up the steps and time to flew once more! All those who had a go on their own had the chance to go down in pairs, and there were some entertaining flights, including Isabelle and Ruby-Mae, who sang ‘Pink Pony Club’, and Louis’ shocked reaction when he realised that Oliver was still on the platform after they’d agreed to jump together! The lads were soon screaming there way down and Oliver was hot on Louis’ heels. Various flying combinations made it down the zip wire, some going down 6 or 7 times! Two of the group - Phoebie and Grace - had to dig especially deep to make it down the zip wire, but they (along with the others who made it down) left the final activity filled with pride. 

The encouragement and support the group has given each other this week has been a joy to watch and has really enabled everyone to do more than they thought they could. What a memorable experience!