On Thursday 24th June the whole of the First Form went on a trip to Symonds Yat for two nights. We arrived hot and tired after our stuffy drive. As soon as we got there we dived into our first activity: caving. We had a long walk to get there and then a treacherous climb down the rocky hillside to the caves.
As I looked up I saw the large ancient rock towering up above me. I felt nerves churning up inside me as I entered the cave. I smelt the musty smell of cool dark caves. We shuffled about a bit on our bottoms. We then played hide and seek. It was very hard. As I looked around I thought of the thousands of tonnes of rocks above me. After lots of shuffling we saw daylight. Then we walked the steep walk back.
The next morning we had a cooked breakfast and we got ready for our second activity: canoeing. It was great fun. As we paddled downstream I could see little ugly ducklings waddling along the banks. We played football in the canoes and did some balancing tricks. I spent most of the time in the water! Finally, we went down the rapids. It was awesome!
Then we had lunch and we relaxed and then got ready for our third activity: climbing. Climbing was an interesting and fun experience. We went up and down walls and learned about safety when climbing. Finally, we climbed up a ladder, through a black barrel and then abseiled down off a ledge.
Next we had a roast dinner and then got ready for our fourth and final activity: rope course. The rope course was quite scary. We went high up in the trees, edged across ropes, jumped from one tyre to another and did lots of other scary things. It was such fun, whizzing through the air, seeing for miles around you.
We were exhausted when we arrived back at the barn. We changed into comfy clothes and then played a game of quick cricket and football. It was a good way to relax. After we had a barbecue and some cake. We went to bed exhausted. The next morning we cleaned and cleared up and we headed home. It was an interesting experience for everybody.
Louise Gammon 1J
When Year Seven first confronted the gate of Holly Barn it was like opening the gates of heaven. Nobody knew what the dorms were like but we did know that it would be a pleasurable experience. When my feet tapped the concrete ground behind the gate I felt 40% excited and 60% nervous. I had never been on a residential trip with the school before so I really couldn’t build a picture of what it would be like.
The first time I laid eyes on my dorm it was warm and nice. The dorm smelt of old books a fragrance that I love. The walls were made of oak and stone. The floor was blue with indented lines which made marks on my feet.
The first activity that came up was the ropes course. We did this at night which was fun because you could see the sun slip down the side of the earth and the moon rise. As dark blue skies appeared everyone could tell it was nearly time to hit the pillow. The first night with the school was a peaceful one. Our dorm was told off a minimum of four times.
As the morning came the bags under my eyes were as heavy as a bag full of bricks. I became more awake as the day went on. Breakfast was an absolute luxury a proper fatty full English breakfast which I am always fond of. After breakfast I got packed for climbing.
Climbing was a good one. The climbing wall was fantastic the grips were made of eroded bricks and stone. It was hard work but great fun. Our instructor was called Ben and he showed us lots of things including abseiling. Next we had lunch followed by canoeing.
Our instructor for canoeing was Magic. We had to put on our life jackets and helmets. I was in a canoe with Julia. We played football in the canoes and then we sailed down the rapids – we capsized but it was still fun. The last activity was abseiling outside. This was one of my favourite activities and we abseiled off a cliff. Finally, it was time for bed. We were shattered.
We awoke in the morning to do our packing before climbing on the coach and returning to school
Chad Coombes 1J