Last week saw our Year 6 boys enjoying their residential trip to Longridge, Marlow. It was a well-deserved trip away at the end of a busy school year and a fabulous week was had by all. One of our Year 6 boys recounts the week…
The Adventure at Longridge
By Praneel Manglam
Monday
Excitement was burning in my stomach. I could not wait to set off in the minibus to Longridge. When we arrived, the first thing we did is go and unpack our suitcases in the tents. I was able to snag the top bunk before Erik! When we finished unpacking the fun began. We were split into two groups which would be our groups for the entire trip. Then we went to do the activities. The first activity which I did was the crate-stacking. This was fun as we had to stack the crates while standing on the tower. It was hard, and I found it incredibly challenging. When we had stacked as many crates as possible, the crates were pushed over and we were left hanging in the air!
Then we swapped over so that we did climbing, and the other group did crate-stacking. Climbing was hard as at many times you would get stuck and did not know where to go. When you reached the top, you had to come down in a specific way. I reached the top but the second time I could not as the session had finished before I could get there!
Then we had our first food at Longridge. We had our sandwiches which we had specifically ordered before the trip. I ordered the cheese sandwich and had some crisps and a bar of KitKat. Then we went to do aeroball after. Aeroball is basically basketball, trampolines and volleyball all in one. Basically, you have to bounce on the trampolines and try to get the ball in the hoop. The top hoop gives two points and the bottom one gives one. This was a fun activity but also incredibly challenging.
After that we had our dinner. For dinner there was a burger and some beans. For dessert we had ice cream and apple tart. The last activity of the day was trebuchet which is basically catapults. We had to build a catapult and had some targets which we had to hit. It was fun and we had a lot of races in that activity. That was the last activity of the day and after that we had a shower and brushed our teeth. Most of us talked for ten minutes and then went to bed.
Tuesday
The second day of our trip had arrived. Today we had a lot of stuff to do. We brushed our teeth, had our breakfast and went straight into doing the activities. We started with ‘The Leap of Faith’. This was an incredibly fun and scary activity. We had to climb a long pole (about 8 metres high) and jump off. You were attached to a harness so as soon as you jumped off you would be dangling in the air. It was a terrifying experience but also incredibly fun!
Next came the scariest activity – ‘The Giant Swing’. In this activity you would be on a swing with another person. You could choose between 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 and 100 percent. 100 was the highest and 50 was the lowest. You were pulled up high on a swing and when you pulled the rope down you went at the speed of light. It was absolutely terrifying and (as we were in front of the Thames) it looked like we would go flying in the water!
Then we had lunch which was the same as yesterday’s and everyone was talking about how scary the activities were. After lunch we had our first water activity which was stand up paddle-boarding. Everyone was shivering as it was so cold, and we were only wearing a t-shirt and swimming trunks. Not only was it cold, the water was FREEZING! I am so glad that I did not fall in. It was surprising that 3 people fell in. I was expecting everybody to stay standing (except Avi; he desperately wanted to fall in!) It was a fun activity, and everybody was laughing when someone fell in.
After this we changed into some dry clothes. Then we went to have dinner. After dinner we went to get changed back into our wet clothes because then we were supposed to do rafting. First, we had to build the raft which was remarkably interesting, and I learnt a lot of new things. Then we had to get on the raft and paddle all the way to “Lego Land” (which was technically an island) and get a flower from it and come back. When we did, we had to clean everything and then go to have a shower and brush our teeth. This time they were hot, and I could actually take a proper shower. Then we got to watch the football match and I predicted the score correctly, so I got an extra sweet.
Wednesday
The last day of the trip had come and surprisingly we had a shower in the morning which was unusual. After having breakfast, we went to do bell boating in which we raced, and we won. We also had dance and singing battles and whoever lost had to dip their head in the water! We paddled all the way back and parked our bell boats where they had been before. Sadly, Harris and I missed kayaking as we had to leave early for our induction day.
Thursday
Our trip may have been over, but our fun hadn’t ended. Today we went bowling in groups. We played two games in which Miss Fry got the highest score and Sambhav got the second highest. I felt like I could have played better but then again, I had a lot of fun and that’s what bowling is all about. Then we went back to school to have our lunch which was jacket potatoes, beans and cheese. After lunch we went to the park and got to play whatever we wanted for an hour and a half. We mainly played football.
Friday
Today we played adventure golf at Lost Jungle in Stanmore. We went in the minibus to the golf site. First, we were split in two groups and then we grabbed our clubs and balls. There were 18 stages and we had so much fun. The only problem was that Mylan and I both hit our balls in the river!
This has been an amazing week and I really enjoyed it!
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