What a fantastic two days we had with year 5/6!

We woke on Thursday with our prayers answered, to find glorious sunshine for our day at Rutland Water. The children all arrived at school excited and ready to go!

Thursday morning was spent on Rutland Water building rafts and kayaking. After wrestling their way into their wet suits, the children were faced with their first challenge. Split into groups of four, and given four barrels, four ropes and four pieces of wood, the children were tasked with making a raft. After ten minutes of experimenting, they were given a few pointers on how to make a successful raft, and soon we had four rafts ready to launch. The next challenge was to get them into the water, with all the team on top and paddle around two buoys before returning to the shore. The winning team was the one that managed this and were the first to dismantle their raft. Many fell in, but lots of fun was had!

Kayaking followed with more team games. Those who managed to work together as a team found that they were much more successful! We finished our water sports with a water Mexican wave and a jump from the pontoon for those who wanted to.

Once we were showered and dried it was time for lunch and some down time. The children enjoyed exploring the bushes and trees by Rutland Water, as well having the opportunity to try out some of their playground gymnastics in a new location! We then went over to the outdoor gym for a bit more exercise - the staff even joined in! After a couple of games of Capture the Flag it was time to wend our way back to school. 

The children were very keen to set up their beds, even though it was only 4pm! A little bit of Dr Who (following their English topic!) and there was time for a bit more running around on the school field before tea. Following pizza, a quick whistle stop lesson on the Vikings before our trip to York on Friday and sandwich making for Friday lunch,  the children got ready for bed and climbed into sleeping bags to watch Roald Dahl's 'The Witches'. 

Teeth brushed and ready for bed, we began to settle down for the night at 10.45pm. Most were asleep by midnight, with the last few lulled to sleep by the gentle tones of Stephen Fry reading Harry Potter! 

Apart from some gentle reminders that it wasn't time to get up at 4am and 5am(!), all was quiet until we got up ready for our trip to York at 6.30am. A quick breakfast was had before we got on the coach at 7.30am. 

On arrival at Jorvik we were met by a Viking, who was somewhat surprised at how tired we all were - this was a theme across the day! The children enjoyed finding out more about Viking York, though were not enamoured of the authentic smells! We then walked to Jorvik DIG for a workshop on Viking medicines -this made us very glad that we live in modern times!

By now breakfast seemed a long time ago and the children were all a little 'hangry' (a mixture of hungry and short tempered!) so we stopped in a pretty park on our way to the National Railway Museum to eat our lunch. 

The children enjoyed exploring the different trains at the Railway Museum and being allowed to go and explore in small groups. It was lovely to be caught by an American visitor to be told that he was a retired teacher, and was so impressed with how lovely our children were - how kind and respectful they were to each other, and to other visitors to the museum. We wouldn't expect anything less of them!

Soon it was time to leave... we were all shattered after a busy two days! Some children were asleep before we left York, and twelve out of the fifteen were asleep for much of the drive back.

A huge thank you to all of the staff who accompanied some of or all of the trip. Your support was much appreciated. We would not be able to give our children such lovely experiences if it were not for the fantastic staff team we have here at Exton.

The final word should be to the children. I am so proud to be your headteacher. You were a delight to be with (even when you were awake late at night!). Your good humour, kindness, courteousness and independent spirits shone through. You are all a credit to your parents and to the school.