Highnam Church Of England Primary Academy

Inspiring Everyone to Shine

Wetherleigh Drive, Highnam, Gloucester, GL2 8LW

01452 525872

admin@highnam.gloucs.sch.uk

PGL - Year 6 on tour!

PGL 2016

Day 5

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Day 5: PGL 2016

 

After a long and tiring week, our final day had arrived. Everyone, including Miss Read, was too tired to get out of their cosy bed so the famous early morning run had finally come to an end. Fortunately for everyone, at 7:30am Evie B came banging on dorm doors. However, the girls in Evie W’s dorm couldn’t be bothered to get up so she stormed in and told them to get up and be packed in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, everyone in that dorm had forgotten to pack the night before so it was a rush to make it in time for breakfast.

For breakfast it was yummy sausages with bacon and eggs. Once our tummies were full, groups 1 and 3 went off to do the Crate Challenge whilst group 2 had no idea what was in store for them at the Giant Swing.

Next up for group 2, after a wild ride on the Giant Swing, was the Crate Challenge. ‘The best part of the Crate Challenge was when me and Evie W had to kick the crates down!’ commented Sophia. Unfortunately for them, Sophia and Evie W kicked the crates down with a bit too much force and got themselves in a bit of a tangle; the instructor then had to spend 5 minutes untangling them! As for groups 1 and 3, they had the Giant Swing and Trapeze last for them. Jasper (group 3) described the Trapeze as ‘Fabulous!’ and Jess from group 1 commented ‘Exhilarating!’ for the Giant Swing.

After our final activity, it was time for lunch. A PGL special: Burger Bar! It was time to go home after our delicious lunch and say goodbye to a wonderful week at PGL! We had a final photo and then got onto the coach to return home. When we got back, we received a warm welcome from the year 5s and our parents! Hello Highnam!

By Sophia and Evie W


Day 4

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Touché, Bonjour all, today we began as always with a Miss Read and co run. Today she was joined by Charlie E, Evie W and Fuiva.

At breakfast the teachers were quite quiet on the pranks front but our protege Evie B went to work. Jasper hadn't learnt his lesson from the previous night and carelessly left his banana out in the open. Evie B pounced and in a flash it was gone. It took him a while to get it back!

The morning activities for group 1 were fencing and trapeze, for group 2 it was trapeze and then fencing and finally group 3 enjoyed low ropes course and climbing. It took a lot of courage for the children to jump for the bar but they all made it to the platform and many managed to reach the bar at the furthest setting.

At lunch we enjoyed a jacket potato with chill con carne. Food was quickly shovelled down in preparation for another busy afternoon.

Miss Owen's group tackled the climbing wall first and eagerly moved onto the low ropes course. They surpassed Miss Owen's expectations for cooperation and teamwork and even the instructor commended them on how well they completed the course all together. Meanwhile, Miss Read's group were waiting in anticipation for their turn on the giant swing. Lily and Izzy were first to drop and thankfully lunch was kept down. Nerves were growing as others watched their team mates plummet towards the ground. As soon as the rain came, it was time to move onto fencing. Mr Dean's group enjoyed the low ropes and climbing wall also this afternoon.

At tea time we were joined by some colleagues from school. Miss Coldrick, Miss Thomas, Miss Cooney, Miss Spry and Mrs Stephens joined us for a tasty curry. Our dessert was an equally tasty waffles and chocolate sauce. Yum!

After dinner we gave each room twenty minutes to prepare for the final room inspection. Tonight saw double points being awarded and our guest judges were impressed with the standard of cleanliness and the singing and dancing on show. The pupils congregated out by the picnic tables for the final results. Well done to Charlie D, Jess, Georgina and Megan for being the overall winners.

Next up was the much anticipated disco partner unveiling. The pupils at lunchtime had voted to continue the longstanding PGL tradition. The pupils cheered each unveiling and had a photo commemorate the occasion.

At the disco Highnam pupils enjoyed dancing to some well known classics such as the Macarana and YMCA. The were some expert dance moves on show from Luke, Harry B and Charlie E. The girls were all dancing together and also enjoyed a balloon competition as well.

Once back at our rooms Cinder, our groupie posed with all the pupils for a photo and then reminded us we were going home tomorrow :( We all headed back to pack our suitcases and ready ourselves for our final night at PGL. We had a little drama at 10pm in the room inspection winners' bathroom. Their toilet seat had broken! With the news filtering through emergency toilet trips were made to Miss Read and Miss Owen's room and the 24hr PGL emergency plumber was called...Mr Dean. Soon after arriving to fix the toilet the girls were soon in stitches as the seat came off completely in Mr Dean's hands. Whoops! Night all!


Day 3

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Miss Read was the only brave person to be out on a run at 6:30am today. A few boys encouragingly waved her off but then returned to their room. At breakfast we had the scandal of who stole Jaz's banana? Jasper had lost his banana but who was the culprit? Eventually after pinning the blame on Miss Owen it was revealed that Mr Dean had hidden the banana. However the banter wasn't over as Jaz returned with a juice to find 3 bananas now on his tray... This time it was Owen who was leading the fun and games!

Up today was a bucket load of archery, the vertical challenge, Jacob's ladder, abseiling and orienteering. Lottie was very chuffed to have made it to the top of the vertical challenge in the morning session. In Mr Dean's group we had archery and the Jacob's ladder. Impressively, Fuiva, Evie W and Owen made it to the top log. It was very challenging and demanded a lot of upper body strength but when we worked as a team we achieved our goals. Miss Owen's group had the reverse and once Xavier had scored 26 in the archery challenge it was their turn for the ladder activity. It was great watching Charlie D and Georgina work together and reach the top. Please watch the video on Twitter and see George's amazing celebration!

Before lunch we headed to the games room for a warm up and a dance off between Miss Read and Miss Owen. The tense competition ended in a draw.

In the afternoon Miss Read's group headed to the abseiling tower on the bottom field. For some this was a straightforward challenge, for others this was a tower full of dread. We soon were cheering and shouting as Isobel, Lottie and Harry faced their fears on the tower. All of them were fearful of leaning out as the tower was very high but with some amazing support from the group below and our fantastic PGL instructors all made it down. A memorable and exhilarating experience for all involved.
"At the top I didn't like it when I had to lean back. I was very scared and wasn't going to do it. I soon realised that it was now or never and I didn't want to leave PGL without facing and conquering this fear. "With Scott by my side I climbed through the metal bars and lent back...I was off!" reported Harri.

Mr Dean's group began the afternoon with orienteering. This activity took place near the canteen. We worked in groups of twos and threes. "We took part in relays which we're fun!" commented Evie. Next up was abseiling and following the safety talk it was our turn to climb the tower. At the top, Zoe told me she was petrified because it was so high!
"After a few moments to compose myself I started to enjoy it and wanted to have another go!" said Zoe calmly back in the hut.

After our visit to the shop it was time for tea. This time Jacob L had a mystery to solve. Whilst fetching a spoon his jelly had disappeared but where had it gone? With Dr Watson nowhere to be seen he tried to work out where it had gone. To his horror he discovered that Miss Owen had hidden it! What will happen next?

It was our second room inspection tonight and will more preparation time the teachers were expecting big things.
The boys were first and the rooms were pretty tidy. The girls were next and the standard was high. Firstly a story, next a song and finally a magical mystery tour. Very impressive! Tomorrow we welcome guest room inspectors and the final results will be revealed.

The evening activity was robot wars. The children were in four groups and had a number of mini challenges to gain resources to build their robots. Toby, Jacob L, Luke and Jack were the robots and were blindfolded for the final battle. It was hilarious to watch...see it in Twitter now!

Just heading to bed now. Good night Highnam.


Day 2

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Day 2 began very early for those in Charlie E's room... 5:30am was the first time Miss Owen in her pug pj's had to see if they could give her one more hour in bed. By 6:30am there was a group ready for a 2 mile run around the campus. Evie B, Fuiva, Charlie E, Xavier, Zoe, Lily, Izzy, Evie W and Laila joined Miss Read and Miss Owen for a lovely early morning jog.

After breakfast it was time for our first activities. First up for Mr Dean's group was the vertical challenge. "I can't believe I completed it, as I am scared of heights," commented Jacob L. Jack H meanwhile was busy trying to pull his wobbly tooth out. After a good few minutes of continuous tugging he delightfully presented his tooth to the rest of the group but will the tooth fairy visit at PGL?

Next up was open canoeing. This went very well and we had a great game of water polo. At the end of the session we had the chance to jump up and down in our boats. We played head, shoulders, knees and toes. The first time through we were meant to jump up and down in the boat but Amaan jumped straight out of the boat. It was very funny, you can see a clip of this on Twitter! Back at our rooms we were faced with a problem... All the doors had been locked and we had a number of wet children wanting to get ready for lunch so Evie B came to the rescue and broke in to her PGL room through a small window!

Before lunch we had our first visit to the PGL shop, most people stocked up on some chocolate treats although a few did buy postcards and stamps... So some parents may be getting a card soon. Next up it was lunchtime. It was pasta day for lunch, we enjoyed our tasty food pit stop and then returned to our accommodation to get ready for our afternoon activities.

In the afternoon we enjoyed Aeroball. It was hard to score goals and we had very wet socks but the girls beat the boys which was fabulous! Miss Read's group took on the high challenge of Jacob's ladder and next up was the ultimate ride - the zip wire. After the safety briefing Matthew started us off as he flew along backwards. Zoe was a little nervous at the top of the tower but was given a helping hand to start of her sky dive experience.

Next, Miss Owen's group and Miss Read's group met at the Aeroball arena - prepared for fierce battle. After close competition between both groups, it was decided that Miss Read and Miss Owen would take on one another. Whilst Harry B commentated, Toby and Xavier kept score. It was an extremely close match and a fight to the bitter end, however Miss Read was just pipped to the post and the final score was 34-26 to Miss Owen.

At tea we had another loss of a tooth, this time Toby said goodbye to one of his baby teeth. The tooth fairy is going to be busy tonight! Harry B showed what a gentleman he is by offering to take up the finished trays of the teachers. Most impressive! Lovely to see the Highnam school values in action at PGL.

Soon after, we held a room inspection. This saw all rooms score between 8 and 9 a good job! The evening activity was the photo challenge. It was going well with the boys and girls out and about in the bottom field hunting for clues but the rain came down hard! This didn't dampen spirits and soon the sun came out and we enjoyed a lovely evening together.

There were a number of damp children...ready for their beds. Night night!


Day 1

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After a good trip on the coach the pupils were full of excitement (and sweets) as they disembarked. Bags were quickly dropped in rooms and a tour of the site followed with our groupie Cinder. 

We enjoyed a few games in the sun. We also lost Izzy for a while...well she was expertly hidden by some of the girls. Meanwhile Jack built his own nest and initials in grass!

After a while we headed off for tea. Our evening game was capture the flag - it was fiercely contested due to it being a boys v girls challenge. 

We then hit the sack - a better choice than watching the football! Night all.