The sun was shining as we woke up for our last full day on the residential. All the children slept really well last night, and were ready for the final day of activities.

Following a breakfast of cereal, fruit, yoghurt and beans on toast, they all went off to their rooms to prepare for the penultimate room inspection. I have been reliably informed by the staff involved that the standard has been very high. Hopefully, they will bring these newly discovered skills of making their beds, tidying their rooms and hoovering, home with them.

And so to the day's activities. My group and Mr Fane's group donned helmets and caving suits and headed off to Porth Yr Ogof (gateway to the caves), which happens to be the largest cave entrance in Wales, measuring over 20 metres wide and 8 metres high. Both groups began by exploring around the top of the cave and walking down the dry river to identify some geological features. Inside the caves, between us, we conquered such challenges as The Rat Run, The Worm Hole, The Letterbox, Whack a Mole as well as many other interesting parts of the caves.

Meanwhile, back on site, Miss O'Sullivan's group and Mrs Sellers/Mr Lewis' group were having a day at The Jungle Gym. Miss O'Sullivan's group began on the high ropes whilst the other group mastered the climbing wall and the telegraph pole. The feedback from all the staff was how impressed they were with the support and encouragement the children gave to each other and the communications skills of all those children who were manning the platforms on the high ropes course. All the challenges The Jungle Gym offers are hard but all the children successfully accomplished them. Well done.

That brings us nicely to tonight's activities. The children have just finished their meal of vegetarian pasta bolognaise, salad, garlic bread, followed by Viennetta!! They are now facing the toughest challenge of the week ... packing their bags to come home!! They are also enjoying spending their money at the shop.

Tomorrow morning, everyone will head off to the Brecon Beacons before heading home.

It has been delightful watching your children this week. They have faced many new activities, some may have put them out of their comfort zone a little, but every single one has risen to the challenges given to them and has succeeded. I am very proud of them, and they should be proud of themselves; they individually achieved huge things.

As this is the last blog of the residential, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff at Woodlands who have looked after all of us so well, and to Layla Jury and Vicky Bullet, back at school, who have done all the administration for the trip and have been helping me, remotely, to navigate a new website - I got there in the end! But most importantly, I would like to thank Tom Fane, Sarah Sellers, Chloe O'Sullivan, Dan Lewis and Zoe Green, who have given up their spare time and home comforts to make this fantastic opportunity, for the children, possible. Without them, I could not have done it. THANK YOU!!

Sleep tight and see you back at school tomorrow.

Becky

P.S. There does seem to be a technical issue with the photos. There are ones for today, but hopefully they will appear tomorrow. Thank you for your patience.