Telephone: 01202 876 556
office@fernmid.dorset.sch.uk
Ferndown Middle School
Peter Grant Way Ferndown Dorset BH22 9UP

Local Adventure 2016

Posted on 10/06/2016

Warm weather and impeccably behaved pupils made the Local Adventure week a pleasure to run. It was a week of challenges and overcoming fears and it all began at Butchers Coppice.

Crate stacking was a favourite choice of activity, involving team work, bravery and in some cases lots of screaming! In fact the award for the loudest screamer was won, hands down by Kayleigh. Although she was terrified Kayleigh said “my favourite activity was crate building because it is fun and exciting.”

The Bravery Award would go to Holly. Poor Holly has a fear of heights but showing great courage she donned the harness and proceeded to scale the climbing tower. It was all going well until she looked down. The instructors talked her down from the tower and she was literally shaking with fear.  After a recovery period Holly tried again and climbed even higher. Fantastic! There were many others, including Emily, who also showed this determination and overcame their fear of heights.

Abseiling was a popular activity with many of the pupils. It takes great trust in the rope and the instructor to hold yourself over a high drop regardless of the fact you are wearing safety equipment!

Dominic demonstrated a natural aptitude for climbing; in fact he surprised everyone, including the instructors with his sense of balance and speed. His novel approach to the crate stacking challenge, along with his partner Isolda, made sure that they built of the highest stacks. Look at the photo!

The strangest place to do star jumps award goes to a small group of intrepid climbers who performed this task at the top of the high ropes on a narrow swinging beam. Congratulations!

The last two days were spent at Moors Valley. The pupils had great fun exploring the park on bikes; well done to Jed for mastering a new skill and well done to Josh for being so encouraging and supportive.  Monkeying around on Go Ape was great fun, especially the zip line and even though they are growing up fast, the little steam train ride was extremely popular and resulted in squeals of delight.

Well done to all the pupils for taking part with enthusiasm and for being willing to try something new.