This was a week of 2 halves. Wednesday we were expecting a lot of rain but it was only a little damp and we had a great day down behind the Rainbow Fence. Over night however the torrential rain caused the Arun to burst it’s banks and flood throughout the field and forest school area, there was even a heron who hung around most of the day unsure of where the riverbank ended or began!

Despite the scene of devastation we were met with, the children and adults all drew on our new resilience skills, pulled together, adapted our plans and got on with having a great time anyway! One of our main objectives for the week was to prepare and cook Pumpkin Soup. They lit the fire then peeled and chopped pumpkin, sweet potato and carrots, toasted and crushed cumin and garlic, boiled and mashed it all together.

Which we all enjoyed with some delicious fire grilled toast! There was even enough to share with Mrs Jagger and Miss Higman.

The children on Thursday morning helped out with a rescue mission of kit that was down behind the Rainbow Fence and then thoroughly enjoyed the puddles/new pool! They were brilliant at adapting to our new setting for the day, up at the front of the school.

Over the 2 days the Year 6 made the most of their last sessions on the slackline, building dens, in the mud kitchen, chilling in hammocks, playing conkers, making conker animals, creating models with clay, whittling with knives and building a hedgehog house.

We finished all our sessions this week by telling each other which Building Learning Power skill we feel we have developed most over the last 7 weeks. Personally I had to draw on all my resilience through the challenging circumstances of this week but the children had lots of lovely examples of when they felt they had improved their Teamwork, Connections, Independence, Deduction, Evaluation and of course Resilience. We really hope these new skills will help them through their final year of primary school and we are looking forward to having them back after their SATs. Well Done Year 6!