PUBLISHED 26 May 2023
From 22nd - 26th May, Year 6 took part in an outdoor adventure residential visit to Newby Wiske Hall, close to the city of York and in a very beautiful part of Northern England. This brand new PGL centre offered very comfortable ensuite accommodation with unique ‘bunk sleeping pods’ for the children. It was the first time that we had been to this venue and we were blessed with fantastic weather all week. Spread over 30 acres of open space, the children took part in twelve different character-building daytime and evening activities including: high ropes, zip wire, aero-ball, archery, sensory trail, survival and many more! All these play a huge part in developing more resilient, self-confident, and independent children.
A favourite activity was ‘Archery Tag’ where they were equipped with foam-tipped arrows to battle it out against each other - shooting arrows across two opposing trenches. The children enjoyed learning some basic bow and arrow skills before entering the arena to see who came out victorious! Another wonderful activity was ‘Balloon Splash’, where each team completed a series of challenges to earn coins that allowed them to purchase items from a mystery box! Teams then worked together closely to create the best contraption to protect their water balloon from destruction. The winning team got to drop their water bomb on Sarah the PGL instructor!
Mealtimes at Newby Wiske were absolutely terrific! Lots of nutritious and tasty food that the children enjoy, including a self-service salad and fruit bar on top of everything else! The children were also thankful for a full English breakfast and cereals each morning to provide plenty of energy, keeping them going until lunchtime.
The Year 6 children have had enormous amounts of fun and learned such a lot from the thrills and spills of the high activities to problem-solving games and collaborative challenges. During these adventures, the children were able to demonstrate perseverance, initiative, courage, friendship, trust, leadership, teamwork, communication compassion, and respect. They seem to have grown in confidence and stature having confronted their fear of heights, learnt the best way to support and encourage one another, and to become more self-reliant whilst looking after themselves away from home - some of them for the very first time!
Again, in true AKS spirit, it was a delight to see the children recognise and celebrate the achievements of their peers as well as their own! We were very proud to hear that the Newby Wiske staff were very impressed with the resilient, responsible, and determined attitude of our children. We would like to thank the dedicated PGL staff for their brilliant organisation, encouragement, and support this week. It really was a fantastic, fun-filled trip led by a team who we really felt wanted us to get the most out of our first visit with them!
We finished our week with a walk around the site, recalling emotions and telling anecdotes about each activity. We’ve included some of the children’s quotes below, sharing their thoughts and feelings throughout the week. All 36 pupils who came away had a brilliant time, alongside four AKS members of staff who helped to make the week a success.
Best quotes of the week…
- It was the greatest residential I’ve ever had! George. I loved flying through the air on the zip wire. Thomas.
- Joint favourites were archery and lazer quest, as we got to battle against our friends. Brody.
- Abseiling was the best because we got to race against our friends! Evie
- At times it was scary as never done it before, but it still was fun. Bella.
- Some children in my group really struggled with the assault course and sensory trail– but I couldn’t stop laughing. Evie
- I tried all the activities. Even though I am frightened of heights I conquered my fears. I feel pretty proud of myself. George
- Thank you to our PGL leader Sarah for being the most amazing group leader dressing up as a bear and then a pineapple and allowing us to trough water bombs at her! Will
- It was so much fun, but went too fast - I didn’t want to leave. Lucy
- I knew it was going to be good, but better than I could have imagined! Joe
- I loved having my own ‘Bunk Pod’ to sleep in, felt very secure and safe like a den! Esme.
- Some of the skills we worked on during the week were independence, facing new challenges and fears and, most importantly, resilience! Rupert.
- Thank you to everyone for helping me celebrate my birthday on the trip and for providing so much birthday cake. The silent disco was awesome! Nickhil
- I felt out of my comfort zone lots of times, but this holiday has really encouraged me to try new things that I wouldn’t normally do! Jackson
- The sky is the limit here, you can achieve anything you want! Sam
- I’m no longer afraid of heights Harry
- Having just joined AKS I wasn’t sure if I should go or not, but I’m so glad I did! Evie Mae.
- The food at Newbie Wiske was absolutely amazing, especially the Hash browns Wilfred
- Thank you to all our teachers, Mrs Mirza, Mrs Blinston, Mr Rice and Mr Avis for making this a residential to remember! Scarlett
Write up by Mr Avis