Despite grey skies, we had the most beautiful journey to Avon Tyrrell, through the New Forest; we were spotting the ponies along the way and had to let cows cross the road. Whilst enjoying the beauty of this area of the country, we sang a lot of songs annd were in high spirits.  We were 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 (fish and chips or jacket potato) which was swiftly followed by an afternoon jam packed with activities, including: an adventure trail, bushcraft, shelter building, mountain biking, the challenge course, archery and abseiling. During the bushcraft session, the children had to collect fuel and build our own fires. It required a lot of teamwork and resilience, especially whilst using the flint and steel. 

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 Osborne was proud of the children who had been feeling slightly 'rusty' with Mountain Biking but pushed themselves further.

After a filling roast chicken dinner or lentil loaf, 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:

 “There are so many amazing activities. I can’t wait to try them all. Also the staff are so friendly.” Oliver

“I am really enjoying being with my friends, especially playing on the table football in my free time.” Finlay H

“We got very muddy doing the bushcraft. But it was really fun and I managed to light a fire.” Sophia

“The rooms are huge!” Autumn

“I loved being out in nature today. We found loads of variety of mushrooms on our adventure trail. The staff could tell us about them all.” Evie

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.