16 September 2021
A day of fun and challenge awaited Year 9 students at Hindleap Warren, an activity centre in the Ashdown Forest, on Monday 13 September. If they didn’t know they had a head for heights at the start of the day, they discovered one through climbing, high ropes and the ‘leap of faith’ and their navigational skills were developed through orienteering. Important aspects of the day were developing team building skills to complete the challenges and also bonding as a year group. In both the day was very successful, as Livvy and Georgia describe below.
Livvy
Today was fantastic, full of new experiences to share with old and new friends. It was a day to get to know all of the new girls who had entered the year, approximately 40 of them, and to make sure they feel comfortable in the Woldingham community.
My group and I were pushed right into the deep end when our first activity was abseiling. This was a frightening undertaking for many, as lot of people have a fear of heights. Throughout the process, everyone was encouraging and supportive of one another, giving everyone the courage to overcome their fears and finish the task. Mrs. Culhane was somehow persuaded to participate. While waiting to go, we were able to just enjoy the task and get to talk to a lot of the new girls, which was a great part of the day for me.
In addition, we all participated in an orienteering course in the afternoon. It was amusing to me because, on occasion, my group would hold the map at an angle that was slightly odd, causing us to go off in the wrong direction until we realised what we’d done. It was a lot of fun to watch everyone working well together and talking with one another so that everyone could figure out where they needed to go in order to finish the task. We enjoyed passing another party and seeing them turn the map in all directions trying to remember which way north was supposed to be.
It was a great day with many memories to be made. Especially, seeing all of the teachers participate in all of the activities. I'd definitely go again since it's a fantastic opportunity to meet new people and get to know them better.
Georgia
My group’s first activities were the leap of faith and high ropes. I found the leap of faith quite terrifying when I was climbing up because the pole was wobbly. Once I was at the top, everyone cheered me on and did a countdown, which really helped me overcome my nerves. As soon as my feet left the platform, I felt a sense of accomplishment and delight.
The orienteering competition was our last activity of the day and I worked with my tutor group. We walked around the forest looking for numbers and we had to complete the given tasks. We all had a lot of fun running around and looking for the numbers. The winners were Digby A, and sadly not my tutor group.
Overall, this was an extremely exciting trip for everyone.
