Year 7 Residential - PGL

At the beginning of the term, 190 Year 7 students made their way to the PGL residential centre at Marchant's Hill in Hindehead, Surrey. Over the weekend, they worked together in groups with their tutors and peers. They enjoyed engaging in a variety of activities including; climbing, raft building, trapeze, orienteering and Jacobs Ladder. These activities were designed to challenge students and develop closer and long-lasting relationships based on overcoming these challenging experiences as a group, creating common ground and shared memories.

Through these activities, students develop attributes in line with the IB Learner Profile:

Knowledgeable - Through the survivor activity students were taught how to build shelters and basic survival techniques.

Thinkers - Through a range of problem solving activities students needed to work together in order to develop innovative solutions to complex problems Inquirers - through orienteering students needed to work together in order to find the information that was required.

Principled - Throughout the weekend, students were challenged to interact with new and different people, negotiating with them and comparing ideas to develop a consensus.

Balanced - Throughout the weekend, students needed to adapt the way they worked with different individuals, accepting a range of ideas Risk-Takers - through the trapeze activity students needed to challenge their own fears and preconceptions.

Open-Minded - Throughout the weekend, students were challenged by a range of responses and perspectives. They needed to put together different perspectives to reach an agreed conclusion.

Communicators - Through activities such as Jacob's Ladder students were required to work together, support each other through experiences that they found challenging.

Reflective - Through rifle shooting and problem solving students had a number of attempts at the same task they needed to reflect on prior performance, take on feedback and improve next time.

The activities and experiences that the students had were highly valuable, providing opportunities for them to develop attributes in keeping with the IB programme and underpinning the Academy Values of Scholarship, Leadership and Fellowship.

We would like to say a massive thank you to the 15 staff who gave up their weekend to support the students ability to have this experience. As well as the 9 sixth former's who demonstrated an incredible maturity and without whom the experience would not have been possible.