HILLTOP RESIDENTIAL DAY 1

Having bid farewell to parents, the children settled quickly into the business of entertaining themselves on the bus – playing cards, drawing or just chatting and looking out of the window. The time seemed to pass quickly and we were soon pulling into the long Hilltop drive through Sheringham Woods. It’s an exciting moment as we drive past some of the things we’re about to encounter and others the children remember from Year 4.

Mo, our old friend and team leader, was on hand to greet us and show us the ropes, show us to our rooms and go through the Hilltop values. The whole idea at Hilltop is Challenge By Choice: the children are encouraged to move from their safe zone into the challenge zone (which is different for each child) but to avoid going into the panic zone.

It’s been great watching our Year 6s mingle and mix with children from other schools: the three girls sharing with girls from Stradbroke seem to be getting on like a house on fire; and the others have done very well to learn names and work together with children they don’t know.

After lunch, and a short amount of time in our rooms to unpack, we were divided into two groups. Group 1 headed off with Mrs Scott to the Tree Top Trail. They were shown how to use the safe clips – a brilliant system which means the children are always connected to one of the safety wires – then let loose on either the low or high routes: challenge by choice. Mrs Scott says they were amazing – Isaac and Sophia flew around, Emily S was amazing on the stirrups (a truly terrifying challenge consisting of stirrups on the end of long chains that get horribly mixed up with your own safety ropes – and all several metres off the ground) and each of them enjoyed pushing themselves on all the other crazy challenges.

Meanwhile Group 2 spend the afternoon caving and crate stacking – both of which they loved. The cave was really impressive – a very realistic fibre-glass system of tunnels, bends stalactites and chambers that really tested them. They loved the final game of hide-and-seek in the dark. I was particularly impressed with Fress’ communication skills on the crate staking – they are so good at encouraging, sharing and explaining and they had so much fun!

The evening ended with a giant game of Mad Hatters – a kind of man-hunt game with hats.

So now, they’ve brushed their teeth, put on their pjs and they’re safely tucked up in bed. So far, so brilliant. I hope you enjoy the photos.