LEARNING
THE YEAR 8 RESIDENTIAL VISIT
READY AND RARING TO GO Katie Chatterton, Acting Head of Year 8
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t 7.58 am all Year 8s were on the buses, all of their bags were on the buses; we were ready to go. Not to mention, we were two minutes ahead of schedule; quite an impressive feat when it comes to Residential. To be honest, the students started as they meant to go on; their punctuality and organisation was brilliant all week. Not being able to eat copious amounts of snacks on the bus this year meant that other forms of entertainment had to be found; there was some very loud and sometimes quite questionable singing to be heard for pretty much the duration of the four-hour journey. Thankfully, despite the bus karaoke, we all arrived with our ear drums and voices intact. This year we were really lucky and were given freshly renovated and never used before rooms in the newest part of the hotel in Kanchanaburi. We were all very impressed at the lovely accommodation; it’s definitely the best out of all the Residentials. Once everyone was settled, lunched and refreshed, we headed up to the top field to do some ice-breaker, team-building and leadership activities. There were some new games this year that worked well and the students were keen to get involved in. One of them was snake identification and education; this was a really informative and interesting addition to the programme, although I think a few of the students were a bit nervous hearing about all of the venomous wildlife they may come across in the Kanchanaburi countryside. It was great to see them all getting involved though; from the outset, the whole Year group were encouraging, inclusive and enthusiastic. As well as the Year 8 Residential having close links with the school’s History curriculum, the trip was also designed to encourage students to reflect on personal attributes. Before the trip, students did some work on thinking about their own character strengths. The Residential is, of course, a very fun trip but it can, in many respects, also be quite challenging. Therefore, it is an opportunity for these character strengths, such as bravery, resilience, teamwork and perseverance, to shine through and be recognised. Teachers were always on the look-out for students who demonstrated particular character strengths and the students were also encouraged to nominate their peers. It was heart-warming to see the floods of nominations that came in on a daily basis; there was a strong sense of camaraderie and solidarity. 10
• Bangkok Patana School
