Day 4
Hi,
Well, I've experienced a first this morning on a residential, and I've been doing them for 15 years - I had to wake up every child's dorm, except one, at 7:15am!!! That shows what fun your children are having and how exhausting each day is.
Although the sun wasn't shining, it was dry and after another hearty breakfast of countless bowls of cereal, followed by beans on toast, there was only one thing to do before activities begun - room inspection! I have to admit that, for the most part, these are the tidiest dorms I have ever seen. So judgement now comes down to the quality of entertainment I am greeted with each day, and they're pretty good too.
And so to the main events of the day.
We had a slight change around of centre staff, and us as group leaders, as Miss O'Sullivan was so keen to have another day of caving. Today. Mr Fane's group and Mrs Sellers / Mr O'Malley's group remained on site to face the challenge of the high ropes, zip wire, the climbing wall and the climbing pole. Mr Fane was so impressed with how the children supported each other on the platforms, on the high ropes - this is not an easy job to do and requires great communication skills, as well as helping each other. Most children, in both groups, reached the top of the climbing wall. Staff 'Star of the Day' has to go to Mrs Sellers for not only reaching the top of the climbing pole but also standing on top of it - very impressive!! I did ask her if she 'mewed' at the top but unfortunately she's not quite up with the youth lingo, as I now am, so the answer is 'No'. Maybe I need to do some staff training on it. However, with child encouragement and demonstration, she did the 'griddy' on her way down. Fair play to her.
My group, and Mis O'Sullivan's group, headed off into the mountains, to Porth Yr Ogof (basic translation means 'Gateway to the Caves'). Apparently, these caves have the largest opening in the whole of the South Wales' caves. Both groups explored the mouth of the cave before heading off in different directions. My group were absolutely fantastic at supporting one another and various children led the group through various parts of the caves, and challenges. Again, this required great communication skills, teamwork and support for each other, especially when you are going through the The Wormhole. I think they were quite surprised there were natural slides within the caves. Having successfully completed The White Line Challenge, The Washing Machine and The Letterbox, Miss O'Sullivan's left the caves with huge smiles all round. The quote for the day has to be from one child, at the end of their caving experience, who said, "This is epic; this is awesome! This is the BEST birthday I have ever had!!"
And so to the final challenge - the final night. Following on from a dinner of spaghetti bolognaise, garlic bread and the classic dessert, Vienetta, the final things to do are to visit the shop and pack bags.
Tomorrow morning, the whole group are going off for a walk up the mountains before heading home.
This will be my last blog for this residential. These trips can only happen if we have staff who are prepared to give up their home comforts, not see their families for a week and be on duty 24 hours a day. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rob O'Malley, Tom Fane, Sarah Sellers and Chloe O'Sullivan, who have done an amazing job to make this week really special for the children. Without them, I could not do this trip.
Goodnight and see you all tomorrow.
Becky Roberts
