Year 6 Oaklands Residential 2019

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Please remember, however, that Wi-Fi signal / phone signal will dictate the amount of information about the trip that we can send but we will endeavour to keep you as updated as possible

Tuesday 7 May

After leaving school just after 9 we set off for the long journey to Llanrwst in North Wales. On arrival at the centre, we were met by Andy and Gethin who were to be our instructors for the week. We went through a safety meeting before going up to our all important rooms. It was very exciting to be choosing our bunk beds for the week. Once we had eaten lunch, we went off into the countryside with our instructors to find out about our local area. The weather wasn't great but we were well dressed for the occasion.

After a well deserved dinner of homemade pizza, we went out to face the infamous dingle! The dingle is a long piece of string tied to trees in the woods surrounding the grounds. The main challenge is that it is all done with a blindfold on! great fun!

In the evening the children had some time to choose their own activity - many chose to sit on the comfy sofas in the conservatory whilst some played hide and seek around the house!

All went to sleep well and were looking forward to their day of mining.

Wednesday 8 May 

As the weather was wet today, a decision was taken to visit the mine in the nearby countryside. 

The children were treated to a visit to the Rhiwbach slate mine where they spent the entire day. Wearing their waterproofs, harnesses, helmets and headtorches, they set off into the mines at around 11.30am. Whilst in there, their fabulous instructors Andy and Gethin told children all about how the mine was created and how it developed over the years. The children ate lunch at one of the deepest points of the “dry” mine which is about 250m below the surface. Inside, we had a boat ride, a zipline and even a climb up a waterfall and up a mine shaft. It was a very long and memorable day and, when you include the 3 mile hike there and back, an exhausting one. Mrs Kililiku, Mrs Brew and Miss Tweed were especially impressed with the resilience, teamwork and courtesy that they showed each other whilst on their visit. It would be fair to say that some of the elements of the mine visit were pretty daunting and whilst the children showed great courage and determination. It was the way in which they treated each other in these challenging times that the staff were particularly proud of, especially with those who were particuarly apprehensive. We are very proud of them all.

For those that are interested, here is a short history of the mines we visited

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhiwbach_Quarry

As one of our campers was having their birthday today, there was birthday cake following the homemade meatballs and then, it was party time! Check our twitter feed for photos of our games!

https://twitter.com/avalonschwirral?lang=en