Merry Christmas to everyone and hope you all have a Happy New Year. See you all on Monday 6th January 2014.

The Last Day of Activities

Once again this week we have had a fantastic and an amazing time at Windmill Hill. The children have also really made us proud to be their teachers as once again the PGL staff have personally thanked the children for their behaviour.  The catering staff wanted to thank us for being the tidiest, quietest children in the dining hall who are always polite and leave their tables spotless after finishing. We also received praise from the instructors and during the morning instructors briefing they are all eager to work with Springfield school children as they know they will be thanked, listened to and most importantly have a fantastic time teaching them.

We have decided to follow the same format as last year where we have asked each child to give us quote of their most memorable experience of the week. Please read them all and not just your own child’s as some will make you laugh, others smile and some even might cause you to shed a tear.

Ruby - “I’ve had a fantastic time, it’s a great experience and my favourite was the giant swing ... actually no ... actually yeah it was.”

Rachael Bo – “Mr Davies’s group is the best. I really liked the canoeing the best especially jumping in even though it was freezing.”

Emily O – “This has been the best experience of my life and the giant swing was EPIC.”

Mitchell – “On the abseiling tower at first I was SO scared I didn’t want to do it, but I did it twice.”

Scott – “It’s a brilliant experience and I’ve learnt lots of new things.”

Alex M – “It has been a great week, I’ve really enjoyed all the activities and my favourite part was being a ‘mole’ in the tunnels.”

Oliver – “I really enjoyed the tunnel trail since I love getting dirty.”

Shannon – “The giant swing was really scary but the thing I enjoyed the most was the abseiling tower.”

Sophie G – “It’s been a fantastic experience, I don’t want to go home, it’s been fun.”

Charlotte – “It’s been a fantastic week, so much to enjoy but the giant swing was best of all.”

Terry – “The rafting was great fun, I thought my legs were going to fall off.”

Ellie – “Even though I bashed my teeth and went flying into the abseiling wall I really enjoyed it.”

Kimberley – “I was terrified of the giant swing, but in the end I loved it and wanted to go again.”

Abigail – “I have to hide – I don’t want to leave!”

Niamh – “I really liked canoeing even though Megan and I fell in!”

Megan – “On the giant swing I was screaming so much the boys said I sounded like and alarm clock.”

Rachel Ba – “The trapeze was scary but I did it in the end.”

Harry – “I loved the tunnel trail because it was dark and exciting.”

Matthew – “This is awesome!”

Joel – “It’s been amazing, I don’t want to go home.”

Naomi – “I love this week this week and I never want it to end.”

Robert – “I am having so much fun do I have to get back home?”

Molly D – “The best week of my life!”

Lisa –“It’s the best week of my life I never want to leave. It will be a memory that will always stick with me.”

Sophia – “I’ve loved the week and really enjoyed all the big challenges.”

Connor – “Epic – can I stay here?”

George – “I was really scared of the abseiling at first but once I tried it I loved it.”

Erin – “I was scared of abseiling but finally got over it! The giant swing was such fun.”

Jordan – “The giant swing was really high and I was scared at first but couldn’t wait to do it again.”

Romeilly – “Today I thought we were all going to be full up after dinner but Emily O proved me wrong  by having two deserts! The thing I liked most was the rafting because we got to soak Mrs Ibbott.”

Toby – “The trapeze looked scary, but I did it and made it.”

Caitlyn – “Screaming on the giant swing, but doing it again.”

Alisha – “Hoe funny it was trying to get Mrs Churchett with our muddy hands.”

Maisie – “Defo the best week ever!”

Lauren – “Before this trip I didn’t know how to do archery – but now I can do it.”

Harrison – “Scary trapeze, but good friend Ryan helped me get over my fear.”

Dulcie – “I’m proud of all I’ve achieved this week. I fought my fears.”

Sophie B – “I conquered my fear of height on the abseiling wall.”

Ryan – “Happy I had a go at everything, don’t want to go home.”

Rebecca – “Fearing the zip wire, but with a shove from Mrs Churchett I did it and loved it!”

Bradley – “Loved the raft building and especially jumping in and getting wet.”

Callum – “My best bit was everything especially the giant swing and I don’t want to come home.”

Liam – “Everything is beasty (awesome) the giant swing is great.”

Lily – “Even though I was scared I did the giant swing and I have conquered my fear of heights.”

Emily L – “I’m really enjoying it and barely missing home. It took me a few tries to get down the abseiling tower but I eventually did it.”

Demi – “Abseiling was the scariest thing ever.”              

Bethany – “I can’t believe I lost my own shoe in my own suitcase.”

Tomisisn – “I conquered my fear of the zip wire and went down it five times.”

Alex R – “On Thursday I went on the abseiling tower and it looked really high but I did it and it was awesome.”

Tiegan – “I conquered loads of fears this week and it has been loads of fun, thank you PGL.”

Marvin – “My favourite bit was the abseiling tower because at first it was to tricky and I have made some new friends.”

Thursday - Pictures of the Day

Team Kola Kings

 



Team Wacky Wombats

 

Team All Stars

 

 

Team Rainbow Family

 

Team Jumping Jelly Beans

 

 

 

 

 



The PGL Alphabet

A – Is for Team All Stars abseiling like Spidermen.

B – Is for buckets and buckets of rain, which didn’t dampen the spirits of anyone.

C – Is for capsized canoes, one very wet instructor and the children soon discovering there is no underwater heating in the lake.

D – Is for dirty clothes hanging from every available space.

E – Is for exhausted staff trying to keep up with energetic children, but loving every minute.

F – Is for food, food, food, food, food...

G – Is for the giant swing, giant wedgies and some choice vocabulary heard.

H - Is for hair-raising happy moments, but safe.

I – Is for incredible achievements of children reaching their individual goals and exceeding them on many occasions.

J – Is for Jumping Jelly Beans whose leader has mad hair styles in this wind!

K – Is for Kola Kings “Who’ve had a bumper day!” quoted Mrs Faulds.

L – Is for limbo dancing and children defying the laws of gravity.

M – Is for many miles walked to and from the dinner hall and masses of memories for life being made.

N – Is for not knowing what the weather will be doing next.

O – Is for orienteering and running around with new found friends.

P – Is for PGL instructors commenting on how our children are polite and well behaved.

Q – Is for quotes coming from all children tomorrow night.

R – Is for the Rainbow Family making Mrs Ibbott proud, but embarrassed whenever their name is called.

S – Is for sweets bought from the gift shop wiping the store clean.

T – Is for tweeting, please follow us in @SpringfieldPri

U – Is for underground tunnelling and children making good impressions of meerkats.

V – Is for the valley of the sight of the gun.

W – Is for Wacky Wombats

X – Is for the two dyslexic teachers who try and write this blog every night.

Y – Is for yawning parents wanting to go to bed, but stay up to wait for the blog.

Z – Is for zip wires that end in the massive puddles and children modelling interesting tide marks on their trousers.

Wednesday - Pictures of the Day

Team Kola Kings

Team Rainbow Family

 

Team All Stars

 

Team Jumping Jelly Bean

 

Team Wacky Wombats

 

 

 

Tuesday Pictures of the Day

Team Photo (some were hiding from the wind and rain!)

 

 

Team Whacky Wombats

Team Jumping Jelly Babies

 

Team All Stars

 

Team Rainbow Family

 

Team Kola Kings

 

 



Day 1 and Day 2

To begin, sorry for no blog update last night, but PGL had updated their security and blogs were blocked unless approved. Ours has now been approved and we can access it.

Our journey down was uneventful all though slightly damp – a sign of things to come. We arrived and were allowed to leave our bags outside our allocated chalets and made our way to the sports hall for lunch and games. A competitive game of football rounders was eventually won by team Sapphire 24-23.

Last night was spent with much parading up and down, but the children were way too excited to go to sleep for hours. The last cabin finally succumbed at 12.30 am and first voices were heard at 5am. However, there were many bravado stories of midnight feasts and no sleep all night long.

Today’s Recipe for Making Memories

1 x massive rainstorm from 10a.m. till 12.30pm to suitably soak little children, but not wash the smiles from their faces.

4 x activities completed with loads of team building and new friendships made.

260 x puddles jumped whenever we have walked to the hall and back

51 x pairs of saturated trainers drying outside the chalets.

45 x toothbrushes unused.

1 x pair of waterproof trousers worn with only pants on underneath

102 x beaming eyes through the grey weather.

8 x impressed instructors who have all commented how polite the children have been.

1 x wild head of hair belonging to Mrs ...............

1 x groupie called Sophie who has taught them a new handclap - arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

1 x kilometre of rope pulled to get all the children to the top of the giant swing.

46 x onesies worn by the children.

11 x children decided that the best way to stop at the bottom of the zip wire was to sit in a puddle.

100,000 x calories of food consumed (by the children alone!)

51x children fast asleep.

12x cabins where you can no longer see the carpet!

66x tweets sent - @SpringfieldPri

18x replies off parents.

1x shoe lost

36x unexpected swims in the lake.

23x layers of clothing worn on one child.

16x boys who badly needed a shower.

Put all into a bowl and mix to ensure a cake full of many happy memories of fun and laughs.

Thursday's Pictures of the Day

Team Dollymixtures - Did he make the leap?

 

 

Team Hyper - This is the best way to describe - A Sense of Achievement

 



Team KFC - Zip Wire Dream Team

Team Fabtastics - Reaching for the top

The best kids - what a wonderful week

Terrific Thursday, Classic Quotes

Beth –“I was so excited about the giant swing, but when I got there I was petrified and wouldn’t look up but I ended up going to the top twice.”

Tom – “Despite having a fear of heights, I have achieved: reaching the top of the giant swing, abseil and climb the climbing wall all the way to the top. I made me feel fantastic about myself.”

Daniel – “Facing my fear of heights and climbing the wall. It made me feel how amazing I am.”

Oliver  - “The highlight of the week must be the giant swing, but to be honest the whole week has just blown me away.”

Ben S – I never thought I would be able to do the trapeze, but I did and I felt happy that I had achieved one of my goals.”

Chester – “I love the giant swing. I promised myself that I wouldn’t get wet during rafting but in the end I jumped in.”

Ronnie – “I have conquered my fear of heights a little. I feel my swimming is getting better after falling in whilst rafting. I loved climbing.”

Kaitlyn – “I never thought that I was scared of heights, but I found some of the highest activities challenging but I conquered them.”

Abigail – “I loved being like a monkey on Jacob’s Ladder and getting to the top – unbelievable!”

Connor – “I have achieved so much this week but especially the giant swing that I thought I wasn’t going to do. I am very proud of myself for exceeding my goals on the climbing wall.”

Anthony – “My best activity was the zip wire. I was pretty good at fencing and not too bad at archery, the food has been fantastic.”

Charlie – “I tried not to get too wet in rafting but Alex pushed me in. I enjoyed the climbing and got up there in a few seconds.”

Kasey – “I lost my voice, but conquered my fear of heights.”

Clarissa – “I adored climbing, loved the high activities, enjoyed the challenge and had an amazing time with all my friends. Lots of memories to remember.”

Abbi – “I was so proud as I got un-hooked from my harness, as I had just finished the most handshaking activity ever – climbing. It was terrifying at first but gradually became fun.”

Jade – “I had so much fun on the giant swing. The harness was uncomfortable and we got pulled up in the air, we pulled the cord then dropped down before swinging. It was really scary.”

Abisha – “I am proud of myself for climbing all the way up the climbing wall. When I got down, it felt like I was flying and I LOVED IT!”

Declan – “I conquered the abseiling wall. My biggest achievement was only spending £3 in the shop, the next day I spent all but 25p.”

Ethan – “When we got to the abseiling tower Abbi said “there’s a bar at the top!” funnily I thought she meant a drinks bar. I relaxed and bounced down.”

Keely – “I’m so proud I completed the abseiling tower and overcame my fear of heights. When I got up there it was drop dead scary but I did it.”

Lewis – I’m glad I actually had a go at the giant swing with Miss Grove. I felt very nervous, but proud of myself.”

 

Charlotte – “Anxiously, I looked up at the huge construction: the giant swing. I was petrified, but went right to the top twice. The word to describe it would simply be: amazeballs!!”

Elisha B – “I conquered and climbed Jacob’s Ladder and it felt so amazing standing on the top pole.”

Amy T – “ I am very happy for myself that I conquered the climbing wall and reached the top without stopping.”

Ben  - “I conquered my fear of heights and climbed my way to the top of the climbing wall and abseiled down, it made me feel extremely happy.”

Michael  - “I have been on everything and went to the top of the giant swing and was extremely happy but scared when the cord was pulled.”

Ope – “I am delighted that I achieved my goal and made it to the top of the climbing wall, the view was amazing.”

Daisy J – “I am so happy that I managed to get to the top of the big swing and not scream as much as I thought I would.”

Amy P – “I am really proud that I reached the top of the climbing tower at my first attempt.”

Lucy – “I am really happy that I have reached the top of the giant swing, abseil tower, Jacobs ladder and climbing wall.”

Jess – “Even though I am scared of heights, I managed to get to the top of the giant swing and doubled where I wanted to get to on the climbing wall.”

Harry – “Top of Jacob’s Ladder is amazzzzzzzzzzzinnnnngggggggggggg – yessssss!!!!”

Kieran – “I have liked all of the climbing activities as on the way down you get a massive adrenaline rush going against all your instincts and letting go of the apparatus and trusting the equipment to do its job.”

Alex – “I would like to do it all again. I’ve made new friends with Chester and Charlie. The scariest thing would be looking down from the big swing.”

Megan – “I loved the zip wire and the giant swing, even though my shoes flew off on the zip wire I carried on and had another go.”

Grace – “I thought I wouldn’t go to the top of the giant swing but I did in the end and I loved it.”

Amy D – “I was so proud of getting to the top of the climbing wall because I thought I was going to chicken out and just go to the middle.”

The PGL Alphabet

A is for Abseiling which sorted the men for the boys, especially these stars: Grace, Tom, Declan, Charlotte, Kasey, Charlie and Chester.

B is for Belaying (Google it) a new skill learnt on Jacob’s Ladder. Especially these stars: Kieran and Alex.

C is for Conquering their fears and achieving their goals: Ben V (Jacob’s Ladder) Daniel, Ronnie (abseiling) Keely, Abbi, Declan (absailing) Anthony (Jacob’s Ladder)

D is for Dollymixtures who did Mrs Churchett proud today

E is for Encouragement by others to their team mates. Top cheerleaders were: Jess, Amy P, Lewis, Ethan, Amy D, Michael, Ben S,

F is for Fencing – Engarde - but don’t pick a fight with Clarissa, Ope or Amy T.

G is for Goals set and then achieved and exceeded on activities.

H is for Hyper a team to be proud of.

I is for the Idyllic setting for the activities

J is for Jacob’s Ladder and the children who reached the top: Abigail, Kasey, Harry, Elisha, Daisy J, Lucy, Connor and Kieran.

K is for KFC Miss Pooler’s super stars.

L is for Leaning Tower of trainers which was won by Team KFC

M is for Millions and millions of smiles we see every hour.

N is for Not leaving a comment on the blog – please do it keeps us entertained.

O is for OOOOOOOOOO the sound of a harness being tightened.

P is for Problem Solving where some shone above the rest: Megan and Kaitlyn,

Q is for Quality time with the children, they are an amazing bunch you should be proud.

R is for Rubbish bought at the gift shop, I’m sure you’ll see it soon.

S is for the Screams that can still be heard from the giant swing yesterday.

T is for Team Fabtastic – fabtastic each and everyone.

U is for Un-opened umbrellas due to the dazzling sun.

V is for the Victorious feeling of achieving their goals.

W is for Water fight of epic proportions. Drowned Rat award goes to Miss Pooler. Super soakers were many but especially: Beth

X is for XXXXXX loads of kisses you’ll get on Friday hopefully at 3pm

Y is for Yummy chocolate crispy up the road.

Z is for ZZZZZZZZ we hope pretty soon.

10 team points for every child whose parent leaves a comment on the blog.

Daily Team Pictures

We have decided to try and post the activity team pictures a little earlier as they are taking so long to upload after 10pm.

Team KFC - Problem Solving Team Activity

Team Fabtastics - Climbing up the Jacob's Ladder

Team Dollymixtures - Encarde - Springfield Fencing Team

Team Hyper - An Absailer's Eye View (amazed I got a steady shot! - it is high!)

 

 

Brucie Bonus - The Water Fight - Can you spot him?

The recipe for the perfect Tuesday

Ingredients:

37 fantastic children

1 beautiful sunny windless day
4 energetic beautiful/handsome teachers
2 land based activities (team games and challenge course)
1 water based activity (raft building)
1 air based activity (giant swing)
20 helmets to be worn the correct way around
10 chest harnesses
10 seat harnesses (resulting in 10 wedgies – ouch!)
10 buoyancy aids
1funny trick of everyone hiding from Mr Davies
1 involuntary use of bad language (adult or child? – answers on postcards)
2 litres of applied sun cream
1 child passing wind when everyone was quiet – much hilarity ensued
135,000 total calorie consumption (in one day!)
74 soaking wet shoes drying in the lovely hot sun on the balcony
2 team winners from the Passport Around The World
1 amazingly fantastic groupie with 15 tattoos and very odd socks
10 new songs learnt
4 very proud teachers of the 37 children’s behaviour
2 complimentary comments from other teachers about our children’s behaviour
37 very tired but very happy children
3 stinking boy’s rooms
1500ml of Lynx deodorant used in the 3 rooms mentioned above
3 children worn the same, of their own, tee shirt for 2 days
but
1000’s of memories made that will never fade

Photos of the Day
Team Hyper  - Challenge Course Team Work

 

 

Team KFC - Soaking but happy

 

 

 

Team Dollymixtures - Which way around is a helmet worn?

 

 

 

Team Fabtastics - Challenge Course team work

 









Day one and all is well

Day one is almost over and now the hardest part of the day begins: trying to get them to sleep on the first night! The journey down was quick and easy and we arrived within two hours of our departure.

We played lots of games in the huge sports hall before meeting our ‘groupie’ – Brucie, whom I’m sure you’ll hear lots about on Friday. After lunch, which most people had brought, apart from one child and Mr Davies, who both resorted to begging off the centre with tasty results, we were shown to our ‘luxurious’ chalets.

A quick unpack, along with lots of excitement and claiming of top bunks ensued, before it was off to the dinner hall for super supper. The group were commended for their excellent, mature and well mannered behaviour. During the meal they swapped stories of the exciting things they were going to do this week.

We set off through the woods to find fuel for the camp fire and were told about the mysterious drop bear, which apparently looks similar to a badger, but climbs like a koala. Strangely enough, they can only be heard, but never seen, in Windmill Hill. The camp fire was quickly made and the silly songs began, along with even sillier stories.

So now we are back in the chalets, settling down for the night ready for an exciting day tomorrow: raft building, team games, challenge course and finally the terrifying giant swing.