Trips, Expeditions and Exchanges

Naomi W, Lower 6, reports on the annual Go Ape trip for Lower 6 pupils. The annual Go-Ape trip is the perfect day out for the Lower 6 at the beginning of the year, allowing pupils to get to know each other better outside of the academic environment. This year, with the introduction of new faces and the recent upgrade from blue to black blazers, getting outside in the trees felt greatly restorative for all. The day started with a coach ride that contained music-listening, chatting and for me personally a lot of competitive card-game playing (I did not win and I’m definitely not still upset about it). When we arrived, there was a significant amount of rain but our spirits could not be dampened. Despite the stormy weather, you could still witness cheery group singing, football playing and continued card-games (that I did not join in on this time for obvious reasons). Once the experience started and it was my tutor’s turn to start, we had a briefing on the ways that you could incorrectly attach a carabiner to a rope (there were more than you’d think). It was a surprisingly worthwhile experience to do something out of my comfort zone and my peers helped me not feel completely alone in my uncoordinated and unskilled ways. We had a great laugh, showing that the trip truly connected tutor groups in a way that can’t always be done at school. The actual climbing itself could be described as equally humbling and exhilarating. Once we were trusted to start, I unfortunately stumbled at the first hurdle, shaking while climbing up a measly ladder. Thankfully, it went up from there (in all senses) and confidence grew in everyone throughout. Obstacles included wobbly bridges, ladders, Tarzan swings and surprisingly the most difficult of all: small metal rings hanging from ropes where you had to stretch into the splits in order to slot your feet into them. It’s hard to sympathise and picture my display of idiocy while doing it just from reading about it but I promise you, it was shocking. My favourite part was definitely the Tarzan swings, where you drop down into the air, almost free-falling, to then be caught by your rope and land in large netting. It was so thrilling that I went back through the course just to redo it multiple times and from conversations with other students, we agree that it was the most memorable. Throughout the day, people enjoyed packed lunches and food provided at the café (I didn’t have one but apparently the hot chocolates were delicious). It was especially sweet to see people enjoying ball games and running around as those simple moments can often get lost in the busy, academic schedule of a Sixth Former. To conclude, every moment of the day felt special and I’ll remember this trip for providing me the time to slow down and talk to people that I hadn’t yet talked to. Now that we have settled into the term and are well underway with all things Lower 6 like academia, community service and independent projects, I will not take for granted the valuable day where we could purely focus on having fun and looking a little stupid.

On Thursday 25 June, the hottest day of the year, the Lower 6 scholars had a day out in Cambridge. The focus of the day was "What are museums for?" and the magnificent Fitzwilliam Museum answered the question emphatically: "Museums offer air-conditioned respite in the face of sub-Saharan temperatures!" In face of quite arduous circumstances - the rising mercury meant that a number of galleries were closed - the scholars produced some brilliant presentations on Egyptian sarcophagi, pre-Raphaelite paintings and Assyrian reliefs. We all had a great day and though our activities were tinged with the sadness that this was Dr Farr's last gallop as Master of the Revels, the pupils viewed the day as a useful opportunity to develop skills that will be useful to them when it comes to the university admissions process next year.