Sixth Form Boarding Students Enjoy Action-Packed Day at Grafham Water

Russ McAlinden and I had the pleasure of taking a group of 12 boarders to Grafham Water Centre for a fun day out filled with activities.

The day began early (for a Saturday at least!), with the group of us leaving from the boarding house at 8am on a minibus to Grafham Water. After a quick drive to outer Cambridgeshire, on which several remarks were made about the luck we were having with the weather given the recent bracing winds of Storm Éowyn, we arrived at the centre and were greeted by Simon, our brilliant activity leader for the day. Simon ran us through the agenda: a morning of rock climbing and archery, followed by a brief lunch break, and then an afternoon on the high ropes.

The boarders threw themselves into the rock climbing, making quick work of the wall. They went up in pairs, tackling progressively harder climbs, including an inclined wall that made the ascent rather challenging. But I am proud to say that, with the encouragement of their peers, everyone made it to the top of each wall, no doubt feeling rather chuffed with themselves.

After rock climbing we moved onto archery, where, after some practice rounds, we played some games involving hitting certain rings in order and then attempting in teams to reach a high score. Although very few began with any archery experience, by the time the session was coming to an end I was seeing far more bullseyes than I had at the start, so I can confidently say many made a noticeable improvement.

After an action-packed morning came a well-earned lunch of sausage rolls and jacket potatoes with various toppings. For a few of the boarders who are fairly new to the UK, this was their first encounter with this veritable height of British cuisine; I recall one remarking, “What’s with you Brits and putting those weird beans in red sauce on everything?!” But we were all very grateful for a hot meal, and the boost of energy was needed for the final activity of the day: the high ropes.

The high ropes consisted of two activities, the first of which was a solo climb up telephone poles and along either wooden beams or a tightrope, and the second a Jacob’s ladder; a teamwork-oriented exercise requiring groups of four to ascend a giant ladder with wooden rungs held up by ropes of increasing distance. In this latter activity the boarders outdid themselves, with all three teams of four reaching the top of the ladder (and even standing up on it with nothing but each other on which to balance!). This feat required not only individual strength and agility, but also the ability to work as a team to help their companions up so that everyone could succeed together.

Having conquered these challenges, and with what little heat of the day there was swiftly departing, we made our way back to the boarding house, thanking our dutiful and inspiring hosts for a wonderful day out. I’m sure I speak for the whole group when I say we had a wonderful time, and I can attest that the boarding house was rather quiet that night. A restful sleep was had by all!