It is lovely to see the return of away days and residential trips for pupils throughout the School and last week it was the turn of our Upper 2! Mrs Vella reports on three fabulous days at Flatford Mill…

It was finally Monday morning and we set off on our three-day trip to Flatford Mill. As soon as we arrived, we faced our first challenge: carrying our bags from the coach to our accommodation (we did not pack lightly)! We settled in and met our tutors for the week, Simon and Charlie. After making our beds and surviving a fire drill in which most of us managed to put matching shoes on our feet, we went to our classroom bases and began our first activity sessions. We had great fun either tracking disappearing animals or orienteering through the fields and hills surrounding Flatford Mill. In the evening, after we had finished our dinner, we all gathered around the fire pit for songs, stories and, most importantly, hot chocolate and marshmallows! 

We woke up on Tuesday to have a hearty breakfast. We were glad of it because we had a busy morning of pond dipping, being eco warriors, animal tracking and classifying animals. After lunch, the groups swapped around so that we all got a chance to develop our understanding of the ecology and environment surrounding Flatford Mill. Before dinner, we all set out our small mammal traps (one group in a field location and the other on the island) and after dinner we departed on an amazing night walk through the fields and trees, testing our senses and experiencing the world of the nocturnal animals.  

On Wednesday morning we discovered many small mammals (field mice, yellow collared mice, and some voles) in our traps and used classification charts to identify which mammals we had caught. After releasing our mammals back into the wild, we had time for one more activity session before heading home. We had an amazing time exploring the natural world and making memories with our friends.