Ready and Raring to Go

Katie Chatterton, Acting Head of Year 8

At 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.

The students showed immense team spirit in all the activities that we did. Whether they were giving advice whilst on the bike ride, encouraging their peers to jump in the somewhat chilly water with the nibbling fish at Erawan Falls or helping to prepare the food to feed to the elephants, everyone made an effort to support and celebrate the success of one another. The days were long and jampacked so the little bit of down-time in between activities and dinner was much needed. The bit of relaxation gave everyone time to reenergise in preparation for Mr Staley’s epic quiz, some absolutely wonderful performances in the talent show and some interesting and energetic moves at the disco.

The activity that many of the Year 8s were apprehensive about was stand up paddle boarding (SUP). Most of the students were inexperienced at this and were understandably quite nervous. Nevertheless, I was so impressed at how they tackled it. There were some strained expressions and uncomfortable wobbles at the start but after 10 minutes or so of being on the river and some stoic resilience, everyone got the hang of it. There were certainly some skilful maneuverers and some speedy paddlers on the water. Personally, I just thought it was lovely opportunity to relax and appreciate the stunning beauty of Kanchanaburi; I almost forgot I was on a school trip for a moment.

An equally special moment on the trip was on the Wednesday: Remembrance Day. The groups doing the History activities on this day were fortunate enough to be able to attend the memorial service at either Hellfire Pass or the Commonwealth War Cemetery. The students were invited to take part in a two-minute period of silence and lay poppies in honour of those fallen in the line of duty. Every single one of the students was so thoughtful and respectful; they were wonderful representatives of the school and made us teachers very proud.