Kilvrough 2018

Dear Parents, thank you for your patience whilst waiting to see the photos of your children in Kilvrough. There was a problem with the camera for Group D and we didn't want to post the photos of the other groups until we could sort it. Group D's photos are scattered about on our school cameras and so it will take a while to collate them. However, rather than delay the process further, we have uploaded all the group photos now and will get the Group D ones up onto the website as soon as possible. I hope this clarifies things.

Once again, thank you for your patience.

Marian Tomlins

News from Abroad – Thursday 25^th January

After another peaceful night’s sleep, the children were woken again at 7.30am this morning, rather more reluctant to remove themselves from their bed and begin the morning chores. After a hearty breakfast of bacon sandwiches, toast, cereal and fruit, the children returned to their rooms ready for room inspection. Again, a continued improvement from previous mornings as the children have now fallen into a cleaning and tidying routine.

Activity groups met with their instructors to discuss the successes of yesterday and any challenges they were likely to face today. Today’s weather forecast showed promising sunshine (this did not prevail), but the river levels remained too high in the caves to be safe to enter. Despite many heavy showers, the final two groups successfully completed the beautiful, if not muddy, waterfalls walk, where they were able to follow the river and even walk behind some of the waterfalls – this was incredibly exciting and the children were in awe of the power of the waterfall.

Climbers today were treated to a little less sunshine and more heavy rain and hail. Again, with the high tide midmorning, the children started their day with an exciting scramble along the rocky shoreline. The children continued to support each other and adults over tricky areas and were beginning to appropriately assess their own risk. After lunch, as the tide drifted out, they abseiled and climbed some of the cliffs on the beach, where they overcame some fears and worked together to support each other.

The final group went canoeing today, arriving on site just in time for lunch. With the rain beginning to fall, the children climbed into their canoes and began to familiarise themselves with 360^o turns, steering from the back and, most importantly, paddling in a straight line. They then had the opportunity to apply their skills whilst travelling down the canal, where we stopped to play a number of games (we will let the children fill you in with the excitement of chasing a rubber duck!) Despite the pouring rain, the children returned to the mini bus and were given the opportunity to jump into the water, which most enthusiastically undertook (we will share the photos when we get back). It was then time for a nice hot drink.

On return, and after much needed showers, the children ate a hearty dinner (their favourite so far) of pizza and wedges with salad; followed by chocolate brownie, homemade marshmallows and ice cream.

As it is our final evening, the children spent their time finding, organising and packing their belongings. They were then treated to Mrs Wilson’s ‘lost property auction’ and all the adults were impressed by how little has been left unclaimed.

The children have just had some hot chocolate or squash and are now settling down for what we are sure will be a very good night’s sleep.

Tomorrow we will have a good day altogether on the beach – enjoying games, beach art and rock pooling.

After an early tea, we will aim to leave Kilvrough at 3pm – arriving home at Glory Farm School at 7.15pm. However, please check our Facebook page and website for updates to this.

The children have all had a wonderful experience this week but are looking forward to bringing you all their dirty washing and sharing their memories of this week!

Good night.

News from Abroad – Wednesday 24^th January

After a lovely quiet night, the children had to be woken at about 7.30am (tired after a day of activities) and started on their daily chores! Spotless bedrooms, queueing for the hoover, bins being emptied – all showing an improvement from the previous day! The children continue to show great independence and team work.

The children all ate well at breakfast, enjoying the cereals, toast, croissants and fruit.

In their normal routine, activity groups met with their instructors to discuss the successes of yesterday and the challenges of today. Unfortunately, the weather continued to change plans. The river level in the caves was still far too high and it was flowing far too fast for the group to enter the caves. The children were a little disappointed, but when they went down to the cave entrance and saw the river for themselves, they fully understood the problem. Instead they were treated to a wonderful exploration of the waterfalls; and the rain even held off. They walked alongside, and even behind, some waterfalls and were really impressed. The day was full of equal amounts of muddy water as they puddle jumped and splashed their way around the walk.

Climbers today were also treated to a little more sunshine. Due to the high tide, they started their day scrambling along the rocks. The children continued to support each other, and often the adults, over tricky areas and were beginning to appropriately assess their own risk. After lunch, as the tide drifted out, they climbed and abseiled some of the cliffs on the beach, where they overcame some fears and worked together to support each other.

The final two groups went canoeing today and instantly demonstrated their determination, working efficiently to get the canoes off the trailer. Again, with the rain holding off, they had an exciting morning getting used to the canoes. A number of games were played by all, adults included, to familiarise them with 360^o turns, steering from the back and, most importantly, paddling in a straight line. After lunch, both groups successfully paddled down the canal finishing at a disused lock. Here they completed some additional enjoyable challenges (which we will leave the children to tell you about themselves) before turning around and heading back to the minibus. At the end of a very successful day, the children were given the opportunity to jump into the water, which most enthusiastically undertook (we will share the photos when we get back). It was then time for a nice hot drink.

On return, and after much needed showers, the children ate a hearty dinner of chicken and roast potatoes with salad and vegetables; followed by pineapple upside down cake and custard.

As the rain arrived at around 5pm, this evening was spent inside where the children, in teams of 3, took part in a picture treasure hunt around the Manor. Overall, they showed great investigative and observation skills trying to find the very particular clues and their accompanying answers.

The children have just had a story and some hot chocolate or squash and are now settling down for what we are sure will be a very good night’s sleep.

The weather forecast shows continued light rain, so it is highly unlikely that the water will have gone down enough for groups to go caving tomorrow. We anticipate that those groups will explore the waterfalls like today. The other groups will be climbing and canoeing.

We have all, adults included, had another really good day and are thoroughly enjoying working together.

News from Abroad – Tuesday 23^rd January

After a lovely quiet night, the children woke at about 7am and started on their daily chores! Spotless bedrooms, queueing for the hoover, bins being emptied – WOW! The children are excelling at looking after themselves and working together. They are a treat to be with.

The children all ate well at breakfast, enjoying the cereals, toast, sausage sandwiches and fruit.

Activity groups met with their instructors to discuss the successes of yesterday and the challenges of today. Unfortunately the weather did change plans. The river level in the caves was far too high and it was flowing far too fast, for the 2 groups to enter the caves. The children were a little disappointed, but when they went down to the cave entrance and saw the river for themselves, they fully understood the problem. Instead they were treated to a wonderful exploration of the waterfalls. They walked alongside, and even behind, some waterfalls and were really impressed. So despite getting a little wet and muddy, they all said they’d had a brilliant time!

Climbers also endured wet weather! They did some rock scrambling first thing and then managed to climb some tricky cliff faces. Once again, all the children were brilliant. They overcame some fears and worked together to support each other. They were even lucky enough to spot seal cubs.

The canoeists ventured forth in drizzle during the morning and rain in the afternoon! The loading and unloading of the canoes was very impressive! Paddling in a straight line proved to be more challenging! Both groups canoed at the same location and there was a little bit of rivalry. One group decided to demonstrate their excellent balancing skills by changing position in the boats and then changing boats – remarkably nobody fell in! Both groups achieved their travelling along the canal targets (eventually) and then those children who wanted to, decided that as they were already fairly wet, they might as well jump in or capsize their boats. We will share the photos when we get back!

On return and after much needed showers, the children ate a hearty dinner of pasta bake with salad; followed by strawberry cheesecake.

The evening was spent in the grounds, building dens and, once again, some really good teamwork took place. Some dens even had lighting and ornaments! One collapsed before judging, but the team dealt with it stoically!

The children have just had a story and some hot chocolate or squash and are now settling down for the night.

The weather forecast is better for tomorrow, but it is highly unlikely that the water will have gone down enough for groups to go caving. We anticipate that those groups will explore the waterfalls like today. The other groups will be climbing and canoeing.

We have all had another really good day!

News from Abroad – Monday 22^nd January

We arrived about 12:15 after a good journey. Very few traffic jams and no travel sickness!

The children did a fantastic job of lifting the cases to the front door and then hauling them up the wobbly stairs. An excellent beginning to the teamwork skills that will come in useful this week!

All children then unpacked and sorted out their rooms, before removing their empty suitcases for safe storage.

We enjoyed a lunch of sandwiches, crisps and fruit, before heading out for our first activity.

The children were kitted out with wellies and waterproofs and then headed into the grounds for some team-building exercises. These involved working together to solve physical and mental problems. Some were quite challenging and left several children sitting or, in some cases, lying in the mud – but all children had huge smiles on their faces! They have realised that upper-body strength is something that they need to work on, especially when swinging across obstacles on ropes!

After much needed showers, the children ate a hearty dinner of chicken tikka masala or chicken in tomato and mushroom sauce, with rice and salad; followed by chocolate mousse.

The evening was spent orienteering in the grounds and, once again, some really good teamwork was taking place.

The children have just had a story and some hot chocolate or squash and are now settling down for the night.

The weather forecast is not too good for tomorrow, but we will keep our fingers crossed! Weather permitting; we have 2 groups heading for the caves, 2 groups off canoeing and one group are going climbing!

We have all had a really good day!

Disposable cameras.

I have been asked today if children can take disposable cameras to Kilvrough. They can if they want to however, they need both of their hands for most activities! Also many of the activities involve water and the likelihood of rain in Wales is high. Each group trainer has a waterproof camera and will take photos throughout the activity. Our school staff may also carry the school cameras. We will share all photos taken by the adults, although this may not be until we get back.

If your child would like to bring a camera, they must understand that it is their responsibility to keep it safe.

I hope this helps!

Thank you to all those parents/guardians who attended the Kilvrough meeting yesterday.

The information we shared can be found in the Powerpoint

Important Information For Residential Visit To Kilvrough Manor

Kilvrough - Parents Information

Parents Information Evening Powerpoint Presentation