IoW 2022 – Day 4

We can’t begin today’s blog without divulging all the juicy details of the social event of the season – last night’s disco! It’s safe to say the highly-anticipated event was a raging success: with lights, music, glitter and dancing – the works!! Upon the children’s request, we began the night with some Afrobeats tunes: Chidu showing us how it’s done with his moves – ‘Boogie-wonderland’ indeed! A fabulous moment later in the night was when “Candy” by Cameo came on and Mrs. Jones lead the way in the classic group dance, closely followed by the girls. Gabriel Balcerek perhaps had the standout performance – his breakdancing to Shawn Mendez’s “There’s nothing holding me back” blew us all away, teachers and students alike. The night ended with the whole room standing and singing “Don’t stop me now” in unison!

Bleary eyed after the disco antics, teachers were sure of a peaceful night’s sleep thanks to the children’s sheer exhaustion…but this was not to be the case. Miss Bates was woken at 1:20am am to loud screams-a large spider had been spotted in the girls’ cabin (Nahriah, Josephine, Samantha, Blessing, Miriam, Jayden, Jayda and Grace) to the dismay of the terrified group!

Miss Kingman’s group (Victoria, Filip, Theresa, Gwyneth, Teddy P, Beau, Maya D, Darcy, Gabriel b, Adham) participated in the long-awaited Giant Swing this morning…

Everyone reached the peak of the swing and loud screams and shrieks were heard for miles. Congratulations for Beau were given by all as his team and teachers were extremely proud as he reached the top of a height activity for the first time this week. Tears of joy were evident and the repetition of, “I did it! I am so proud of myself!” was music to Mrs Kingman and Mrs Jones’ ears. There is nothing more satisfying for us than hearing a child express their pride in themselves. A special well done to Adham too as he volunteered to be Beau’s support, singing a song and belting out much encouragement for his friend.

Miss Kingman’s group (Victoria, Filip, Theresa, Gwyneth, Teddy P, Beau, Maya D, Darcy, Gabriel b, Adham) ended their day with the ‘Sensory Trail,’ accompanied by Mrs. Jones. Although the girls went to great lengths to cover every inch of their bodies with rain macs, waterproofs and even shower-caps, this was to no avail. Nothing was a match for the extent of water and mud they were subjected to! It’s safe to say they returned in a state, but with similes all round. I could go on, but the pictures say it all…

Miss Sawyer’s group (Blessing, Miriam, Josephine, Grace, Ethan, Teddy J, David, Bereket and Eleazar) tried their hand at a spot of fencing, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. After some silly antics with the fencing get-up, the children showed a surprising amount of accuracy and understanding of the technique required.

Miss Sawyer vs. Josephine proved a close contest, with Josephine narrowly missing out on a victory, the score ending 3-2 to miss sawyer. Later, the group joined Miss Grant’s in some orienteering. Special shout out to Blessing, and Grace’s group, who teamed up with Naomi, Hannah and Jayden, narrowly missing winning the competition by using their map-reading and compass skills to locate different areas in the campsite. Perhaps we have some future geographers on our hands?

Once Miss Grant’s group (Jayden, Hannah, Nana-Ama, Naomi, Joshua, Daniel DA, Buddy, Gabriel B, Arthur and Ayden), realised fencing was not in fact building fences, they loved the warm-up games testing their reaction times. Arthur (our resident fencing expert – who has partaken in fencing before) excelled and even learnt some new tricks! However, Buddy, who had not tried fencing before, also took to it like a duck to water – winning many of his matches! Well done to Bereket, Joshua, Daniel DA and Teddy J who won orienteering with 9 points with David, Ethan, Eleazer and Josephine close behind with 8 points. Special shout out to Buddy who gained extra points for his group by going out of his way to help a girl in another school who had lost her group.

Miss Grant’s group later attempted a bit of abseiling, an activity that they’d heard lots of from their peers over the course of the week. Most of the group completed it however Hannah (who hasn’t completed any of the high ropes challenges all the way to the top as yet) completed it from the top of the daunting 40 foot wall – making herself, Miss Grant and the rest of her group incredibly proud!

Miss Bate’s group (Maya J, Nahriah, Samantha, Natalie, Jayda, Kaya, Chidu, Daniel O and Alex) participated in the highly anticipated sensory trial this morning, having heard all about how ‘gruesome’ it was from their friends who had tried it previously. Indeed, mud, water and general messiness awaited them – perhaps they’d picked the perfect day as it was forecast to drizzle! Indeed, they did not leave disappointed; Kaya found it highly amusing when Samantha got her bottom stuck in the tyres! Nahriah, reflecting on the element of being blindfolded: “I felt like I was walking into nothing. When I was trying to do the obstacles, I was confused ‘cos I didn’t know what to do.” Adham summed up the activity perfectly when he said “It was really dirty but so fun.”

We rounded off our final night at PGL with ‘campfire,’ which was a perfect chance for us all to come together as a group and share some of the hilarious and happy memories that we’ve all gathered this week. It’s safe to say that we’ve had an incredible time, but we’re all looking forwards to being reunited with our families and friends – and going back to a much-needed hot bath and a warm bed!