PUBLISHED 19 October 2023
The Year 5 and 6 children enjoyed a fantastic residential trip to the Elizabethan, Condover Hall this week, set in 78 acres of stunning Shropshire countryside. The children were presented with a multitude of indoor and outdoor challenges and teambuilding exercises encouraging resilience and confidence, help them face their fears and extend their friendship circles outside of the school walls. Taking both year groups together allowed pupils to form a different appreciation of each other and expand their friendship circles.
After a scheduled picnic lunch, we soon arrived safely at Condover Hall, with jubilant cheers from everyone! The JCA staff were eagerly awaiting our arrival and it was then the moment the children had all been waiting for – finding out who their ‘roomies’ would be for the week. The children then settled into Thorpe Block, unpacked their bags, and got ready for their first line-up of activities: zip wires, trapeze and fencing. There were smiles galore all-round!
Over the days that followed, the children enjoyed five different activities each day, with the last session ending at 8.30pm. We were very grateful to have our own common room to wind down each day and enjoy hot chocolate and a biscuit before bedtime! During our stay, the weather stayed fine and the children were able to take full advantage of everything Condover Hall had to offer. It was wonderful to see the children encouraging and supporting each other to the next level of achievement in true AKS spirit.
Everyone had enormous amounts of fun and learned such a lot from the thrills and spills of the high activities, to problem-solving games and 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! One of the biggest highlights of the week was to see Mrs Mirza and Mr Stannier fly through the forest on a zip wire!
Mealtimes at Condover were absolutely terrific! Lots of nutritious and tasty food that the children enjoy, to include a full English or continental breakfast each morning keeping them going until lunchtime. After a fantastic four days away, it was a definite big thumbs up for Condover Hall and to all the JCA staff for making the holiday so special. A huge thank you to all the teachers too who supported the children - Mrs Mirza, Mrs Cole, Mrs Whitaker, Mr Dreyer and Mr Stannier – you all helped make lots of memories that will not be forgotten during this ultimate adventure trip! Well done to everyone who tried something new or did things they found scary or difficult.
Here is a snapshot of just some of the favourite activities the children enjoyed in their jam-packed itinerary.
Zip Wire – The children flew through the air like monkeys, swinging under a forest canopy! Attached by a harness, participants travelled down the zip wire from the purpose-built platform. This activity helped develop trust and confidence through participation. Attached by a harness, participants travelled down the zip wire from the purpose-built platform. This activity helped develop trust and confidence through participation.
Silent Disco - Hilarious to watch and even more fun to participate in. Disco has never been so much fun with wireless headsets and a choice of two channels, so you only listen to the music you like. There were plenty of classics, so it was a terrific opportunity for the children to socialise.
Giant Cluedo – Who killed Billy the banana? An amazing evening activity in which instructors initially set the scene by performing a short story to the groups while dressed in character. The children then enjoyed meeting and interrogating their suspects, (Charlie Chilli, Kelly Ketchup, Max Mustard, Harry Hotdog and Chris Carrot) and tried to piece together the clues to find the culprit guilty of the crime. By the end of the challenges, each team was able to work out which character committed the crime, in which location and with which weapon – all taking place inside the spectacular Condover Mansion.
Laser Conquest and Grid of Stones - Exclusive to Condover Hall and taking place in a giant inflatable arena, participants roamed around an area searching for the opposition. Once they came across an opponent, they targeted their foe with their laser to try and take down the other team. The team-building nature of Laser Conquest brought the children together to conquer goals, encourage intuition, spontaneity and of course was a lot of fun!
Trapeze and climbing wall - A tower with blocks on either side that helped you to climb further. You had to reach onto the top platform, then jump off into the air and grasp the metal bar hanging in front.
Archery Tag – The children are 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!
"It was the greatest residential I’ve ever had!" Genevieve
"I loved flying through the air on the zip wire." Tom
"Joint favourites were Lazer Quest and Grid of Stones, as we got to battle against our friends." Freddie
"Abseiling was the best!" James H. Oscar & Nancy
"At times it was scary as never done it before, but it still was fun." Emily
"Even though I am frightened of heights I conquered my fears and now no longer afraid of heights! I feel pretty proud of myself." James
"Thank you to our group leaders, Holly, Lilly, Kay and Charlie, for being so much fun and teaching us so many new things." Arabella
"It was so much fun, but it went too fast - I didn’t want to leave." Josh
"I knew it was going to be good, but better than I could have imagined!" Ben
"I loved sleeping on a bunk bed and making a den, it felt very cosy and safe." Freddie and Josh
"I enjoyed facing new challenges and fears and being a team player" George
"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!" Austin
"The skies the limit here, you can achieve anything you want and overcome all your fears!" Blythe
"The food at Condover Hall was absolutely amazing, especially the beef burgers and chips!" Jacob