On the 14th February, Year 5 arrived at school with their bags packed ready for our residential trip to Whitehall. Everyone was really excited. The parents waved us off at 10 o’clock and we arrived at Whitehall at 11.30.

When we arrived, we had time to find out our bedrooms, unpack and get to know where we were staying. We were allowed to explore the house and have free time. In our free time, we chatted, played pool and games. We then met our instructors who were so lovely and told us about the activities we would be doing and the equipment we needed. We got to borrow some of their waterproofs, they were huge but kept us dry… well mostly! 

We did some amazing activities including stream scrambling, zip wire, rock scrambling and rock climbing. We really challenged ourselves to come out of our comfort zone. The lower between some rocks was particularly challenging as we had to climb to the top of the rock while our friends were at the bottom and then lower ourselves in between two rocks and lean back. Our friends then cheered us on as we were lowered down. 

After all the amazing activities, we had some yummy food and sat together around tables sharing the great stories of our adventures. We had group jobs where we helped set up for breakfast or tidy away our plates. 

On the last day, we packed up all our things and had one last activity before we headed home. Lots of children mentioned how excited they were to tell their families all about what we had been up to. 

Here are some quotes from the children about their best bits: 

“I really enjoyed the Zipline, I was scared at first because the ladder was shaking but when I went down it was really fun” Payton

“I really enjoyed the stream scrambling, even though I got soaking wet, it was really funny” Tia

“My leader named me ‘king of the river’ because I was always at the front” Marley

“At first, I was scared to do rock climbing but then I got confidence to try again” Sasha

“When we were doing the lower between the rocks, I looked at everyone’s faces and it made me really want to do it.” Asher

“We really worked as a team when we were rock scrambling because we were helping and supporting each other” Tia

Take a look at the photos in our gallery.