Norfolk Lakes Y8 Residential - Oct 2021
On October 18th almost 200 Year 8 Northampton School for Boys students embarked on the familiar residential trip to Norfolk. Staff and students alike were thrilled with the announcement of the return of an NSB highlight.
The departure ran smoothly with students keenly listening to all information before boarding one of four coaches. Our only stop saw us flood the floors of Cambridge service station as students made their way to the healthy options of KFC and McDonalds.
All the boys were a credit to the school, showing politeness with the staff and respect for their environment by clearing up their mess.
From there the remainder of the journey was gone in an instant. Upon arrival, pupils were keen to explore the accommodation and hastily decided who would be sleeping in which bed. With not much time to orientate themselves, pupils were quickly onto their first session and so began the busy week of activities.
The activities were varied and exciting, from caving to survival skills, from fencing to high ropes, and the water-based activities were fantastic. Particular highlights from students were the stand-up paddle boarding and the high ropes. As the week progressed the boys rotated through all the activities on offer. Staff also had the opportunity to join in with the activities with their group. The success of this varied, as evidenced by Mr Winfield firing one arrow during archery and hitting the bullseye (ask Group 1!), compared to Mr Hewitt who kept falling into the water during stand-up paddle boarding as his group tried to ‘help’ him.
What pleased the staff the most was how the boys worked together as a team to solve challenges, how they listened well to instructions to improve and hone their skills in the various activities and how they encouraged each other to overcome their fears.
The days flew by and before we knew it a very tired Year 8 cohort returned on Friday afternoon. Spirits remained high until the final day – even if the weather did try to dampen this from time to time!
The week was a huge success. To summarise with a quote from Mr W. Kneeshaw:
“As a group leader, I thoroughly enjoyed building up a rapport with my group, watching them fight their fears and seeing everyone band together and help each other out.”
Mr T. Winfield
Trip Leader
