We had the most beautiful journey to Avon Tyrrell, through the New Forest. Spotting the ponies along the way. The glorious sunshine was highlighting the beauty of this area of the country and made us very excited for our final destination. First on the agenda was to tell the very excitable children who they would be sharing a room with. After plenty of celebrations and jubilations, the cheering soon came to a pause as the children were required to make their own beds. With a little cooperation and lots of adult help, everyone was able to settle into a cosy bed tonight.

Our afternoon started with a delicious lunch (steak or vegetable pastries with diced potatoes and vegetables) which was swiftly followed by an afternoon jam packed with activities, including: pioneering, mountain biking, the challenge course and abseiling. During the pioneering session, the children built their very own catapults. They had to use some intricate knot styles to secure a selection of poles in place to create giant sized catapults! The children were then able to score points based on the accuracy of their aims.

It was also great to see lots of children getting out of their comfort zone as they cycled through the forest and took on lots of hilly and bumpy terrain - ending on a steep, continuous incline. The perseverance was incredible. Mrs James was so proud of the children who had been feeling slightly 'rusty' with Mountain Biking but pushed themselves further than they thought they could.

After a filling roast chicken dinner or stuffed pepper, we all enjoyed a leisurely night walk where they learnt about the history of Avon Tyrrell and made fresh pine needle tea. We tried hard to keep our torches off to adjust our eye-sight to the darkness. It was remarkable how much you could see. The children have made the absolute most of their first day!

This evening, the children have settled beautifully and are already making all of the adults incredibly proud. Here are a few quotes from the children themselves about their day so far:

 “I wasn't sure about Pioneering before I started but it was so much fun! I really enjoyed learning how to make a catapult and competing against others with targets.” Annabelle

“The rooms are so spacious and we worked as a team to make our beds - the duvet covers were a bit of a challenge.” Poppy C

“The lunch was really good - I had loads of chips! Aaryan

At first I was nervous about Mountain Biking but we had a little practise and after that I was perfectly fine. We went down loads of steep hills and turns and at the end there was a huge hill - I nearly made it all the way to the top." Hriday

Keep checking in throughout the week to see what your wonderful children are getting up to. Take a look at a selection of photographs from today, more will be uploaded over the next few days.