Day Four at Fairthorne!

Day Four at Fairthorne Manor

Thursday is here and with signifies our last full day at Fairthorne Manor. Only one more sleep until we are back home!

One thing that we have noticed this week is how well children are bonding together in dorms and activity groups. It is really lovely to see how they care and look after each other whilst coping with being away from home and facing new challenges.

Another impressive thing to comment on is how well they are conducting themselves around the dinner table. Everybody is being very polite and helpful (handing out cutlery, plates, napkins, etc.) Children are also eating good healthy portions of food (and sometimes multiple portions at that!)

Finally, in my thoughts of the week, we have also been incredibly pleased with the tidiness of their rooms and how they are generally looking after themselves. They are coping admirably!

Thursday’s activities included Team Challenge, where children had to work closely together to overcome different physical and mental challenges. They also had to face the low ropes course that demanded skill, patience, and again TEAMWORK! More heights were being conquered in the Towers and more Indy-style rope bridge crossing was being done by Group 18.

After a lovely lunch of a panini and soup it was off for more challenges. This time groups children had to face their fears in climbing up a wall, and then abseiling down another!

Disco

Tonight it was time to get our glad rags on and bust some moves! It was DISCO TIME! This night was simply an opportunity for the children to let their hair down and have a bit of time dancing or chatting with friends.

Then it was off to bed for our final sleep before returning back to Southampton a little grubbier, but hopefully with some brilliant memories as well!

Mr Iszatt

PS – I will pop a final blog on when we have returned back, adding a few pictures to wrap up the week.

PPS – Please can all parents be ready to collect their children at 2pm prompt! They will then need to be deposited in a bath and their clothes in a washing machine!

Day Three at Fairthorne

Day Three at Fairthorne Manor

Time seems to be really flying here! We are already onto Wednesday and will be home before we even know it! So far the children have been a real credit to the school! Let’s hope they keep this high standard up til Friday!

A massive thank you to Mr Taylor, Zac and Abbas for helping get the first two days of blogs online for you all. And also a huge thank you to Mrs Guyer who has been tirelessly helping the girls out this week. She will have served her time at Fairthorne Manor by tonight and will be replaced for the rest of the week by the lovely Mrs Shave!

Dorm inspections have been going very well so far. The children have been keeping things very organised and working as teams to earn points for their group. It’s a tight contest to be honest, and could go either way at this stage.

Breakfast

Today it was a continental affair with croissants the order of the day. Children are eating very well here and making sure they stock up energy for the exhausting day’s activities ahead of them.

Wednesday Morning Activities

Jacobs Ladder and Crate Challenge

Today has been challenging, climbing up a massive ladder, building a crate tower! Sounds easy… Trust me it isn’t! On Jacob’s ladder, I was with James. We managed to get up to the 4th step! The Crate Challenge was fun as well I managed to get up 6 crates high!

Zac

Afternoon Activities

Blind Trail and Orienteering

Low Ropes and Initiative Test

It was lucky that our first activity, low ropes, was right next to Heald House! We were joined by Lewis (instructor) and he told us what to do.
The first challenge was pretty easy, but the real challenge was to come…
After about half an hour, we got there in the end. I was worried that I was going to get wet and muddy. Next, after a series of challenges, we finished! Subsequently, the initiative test waited. First was the Mohawk trail, a challenging course of ropes that we had to stand on! It took a long time but we finished it in the end, my time at Fairthorne overall has been amazing, an experience I’ll never forget.

Jim


Campfire

Tonight we have a campfire to look forward to in the woods. We will be singing lots of songs and enjoying the fire!

Day Two at Fairthorne Manor

Bleary-eyed, the children were awakened from their slumber at 7am prompt for much needed showers.  Then it was off to breakfast at 8am for a fully cooked breakfast of sausages, beans and hash browns!

I didn’t expect breakfast to be nice, but it was!  I loved the hash browns, they were my favourite!  Having that food kept us energised for the rest of the morning!  Delicious!

Ellie

Tuesday Morning Activities

In the morning there was a real range of activities being undertaken by the children that would again test their teamwork skills and require them to face their own fears.  Here they are to tell you more about each one:

Burma Bridge

I enjoyed the vine section of Burma bridge because it was nice and easy and you could hold on to something!  I also enjoyed slipping off and getting a wedgie.  It was also cool seeing others fall off too!

Nisha

Towers

Towers was great because I am scared of heights, but I still managed to get to the very top.  When I was there we had to balance over a sheer drop with only a wire underneath (we were clipped in!)  My favourite bit was doing a high five and when we got to jump off!  I am really proud of being able to conquer my fears!

Carla

Climbing

For climbing we had to scale a wall using our hands and feet to grip onto hand holds!  I made it to the top twice.  I felt really proud of myself!  It was really good fun cheering on everybody else!

Lauren

After another filling hot lunch and a short nip back to dorms it was time for a fun-packed afternoon! Groups 16+17 were undertaking the obstacle course, whilst group 18 were trying to get their bearings (pun intended) with orienteering!  Here’s what they thought:

Zip Wire

We were connected to a wire and we had to swing off a platform.  We went really fast.  I enjoyed it because we got to create our own poses as we hurtled down the wire!

Ayushi

Obstacle Course

It was really good fun! Especially when we were blindfolded going on the course.  We had to through ropes and tunnels and clamber on our hands and knees.  Teamwork was really important, trusting your partner was key!

Myia

Orienteering

For this event you need to be able to look at a map and find certain points.  When you got there you found clues to help you!  You needed to be able to read a map and figure out where to go!  You also needed a lot of resilience, especially when you got lost!

Alaa

Finally getting a chance to sit down, children and adults fuelled up on more hearty grub at teatime.  It also gave everyone a chance to reflect on their day and to start thinking about tomorrow’s challenges.

In the evening the children played some wide games in the Sports to drain themselves of any remaining energy, before having a hot chocolate and retiring to their dorms to write letters home and get ready for another peaceful sleep.

Some more pictures!

Day One at Fairthorne – A great start!

With beautiful weather and literally hundreds of suitcases, we boarded the coach with happy, but nervous faces, destined for our residential week at Fairthorne Manor.

Upon our arrival we were met by our friendly Fairthorne link person Lewis, who will be looking after us this week.  We quickly dumped our stuff in dorms, before setting out for a tour of the site. 

Once acquainted with our surroundings, we had a little time to make our dorms cosy by sorting our beds and strategically positioning our teddies!  With dorm points at stake, it was also important to ensure that things were looking shipshape for the inspection later on.

After a civilised jacket potato lunch (politeness and good mannered abound) we started our afternoon activities.  These included archery and pioneering for groups 16 and 17 and abseiling and archery for group 18.  Even in this first afternoon some children were already demonstrating an incredibly amount of bravery to overcome fears and were also learning new skills and techniques.

Archery

Archery was fun.  I was excited to do new things.  We got taught how to hold the bow and arrow properly.  My first go was actually not bad, and I even hit the target (nearly) every time!  When I let go of the arrow it felt like a missile brushing past my face.  I will definitely have another go!

Shah Alam   

Abseiling

At first I was terrified of abseiling.  When they were telling you to lean back over the sheer drop all I could think was, “I’m going to fall, I’m going to fall!”  But all the support from people on the ground gave you the confidence to finally teeter over the edge.  It felt fantastic abseiling down the wall after that.  It felt brilliant to touch down, mainly because I’d overcome a fear, but also because everybody had been so supportive throughout.

Eddie 

We then had our tea (yummy pasta!) and even yummier pudding (chocolate muffins!)  It was then time for the dreaded dorm inspections.  I can report that EVERY dorm was TIDY and ORGANISED!  Some children had even arranged their clothes in order for the rest of the week!

The food is very quick at arriving here and is really tasty and filling.  They always make just the right amount.  Probably my favourite meal yesterday was the pasta – it was cooked properly and there were loads of flavours!

Zac 

Our evening activity was a night walk that involved us completing all sorts of team challenges in the darkness of the woods.

After all that excitement, we finally settled down with a cup of hot chocolate and a biscuit.

I had a really good first day!  I was absolutely shattered by the end of it, and that was only half a day!  My highlight was pioneering because I never knew you could make a mini-playground from wood and rope so quickly.  I had a brilliant night’s sleep as well and no-one disturbed me in the dorm.  We all got to sleep pretty quickly.  I am already looking forward to Towers!  I can’t wait!

Peter 

At the time of writing this blog entry (9:45pm) I can report that ALL children are sound asleep, having settled down quickly and quietly! 

All in all, a fantastic start to what promises to be a great week!

Mr Iszatt

PS – Sorry, blogs will be coming a day late as we are having technical issues with wi-fi connections here!  Apologies to any parents who have been eagerly checking! 

More pictures follow!