School Journey 2025

School Journey 2025

Day One at Grittleton House

So its that time of year again!  Big Brother has started on ITV but they are not the only ones in the house- Year 6 are at Grittleton. Yay.

We got on to our coach and left the parents (well most of them) at the side of the road waving their handkerchiefs and wondering what they were going to do with themselves for 4 nights!

The traffic was kind to us and we were on the motorway in super quick time. We had a bathroom break at the services near Reading and Mr Caffrey managed to upset a huge queue of old ladies in Greggs when he got to the front and asked them for all the sausage rolls they had!!!!! So after a bathroom break and a sausage roll sharing session, we were back on the coach and driving up the drive to Grittleton by 12:15. The sun was shining, and the staff were waiting to help unload the cases and settle us in.

Orientation was our first activity, the children were taken around some of the site, shown the important meeting places and reminded of the do’s and don’ts of school journey.

Next was lunch time and it has been such beautiful day we ate our lunch outside on the big picnic tables. Cleared our rubbish and it was time to go to our bedrooms. Boys one side, girls the other. Carrying their suitcases up the stairs was no problem for the children, putting the duvet covers on the duvets proved to be a bit more challenging!!!! As always Teamwork makes the dream work, and if all else fails Ms Priscillia is a soft touch and can be persuaded to do it for you- it turns out!

Rooms tided and inspected and we were off in our activity teams and on to our first challenges. Each group does all of the challenges at different times. So today we had Den Building, Escape and invasion, Problem Solving (other than putting on a duvet cover) and my favourite- arson club (it is really called fire lighting but I prefer my version.

After these activities we had a chance to run around the fields and play rolling down hills-and that was just Ms Pope!

Off to dinner a 5:30- Chicken nuggets, chips and as much salad as you want- and they wanted a lot today. The fresh air had definitely sharpened their appetites.

A chance to run around again (can you see what I am doing here- lots of running= tired children!!!) 

The evening activity was the campfire. Singing, dancing, joke telling (we have to work on these- they were terrible!!!), hot chocolate and of course roasted marshmallows. 

Back to the house tired, happy and desperate for bed (hee hee)

Showers, teeth cleaning and lights out by 9:30, I don’t think I heard a voice after ten, and whilst going around all I could hear was snores and heavy breathing drifting out of the rooms.

Thank you to the parents who have lent us your children for the week, we are loving seeing their joy and smiles.

All photos will be on the website as soon as there is enough service to upload.

And will be available on TEAMS when we get back

Lots of Love and see you Friday

Miss B, Mr Caffrey, Mrs Pope and Miss Prescillia

Day Two at Grittleton House

Well, the morning started well- 7am wake up song, yes song not an alarm but the dulcet tones of Miss B singing a very old song- “The sun is out, the sky is blue…..” I think all the strange looks I got was because the children didn’t know the song and not because my singing is awful. Can’t be that at all. I have told them I do requests.

Off to the field we went then up to breakfast: cereal, toast, sausage and beans today. This was devoured and the tables cleared in record time this morning. They were eager to spend time chatting and playing on the field before the first activities. We all do the same activities just in different orders. Todays activities were “off the ground”, scooters, escape room and archery.

We were in the escape room first today. A world war 2 bunker that contained clues and puzzles that needed to be solved in order to unlock a box and ensure we could leave in time and not get stuck in the past. I think the biggest puzzle for most of them was an unusual object in one of the rooms. Many questions were asked as to what it was and what it was used for. Can you guess what it was from their questions and statements-

1. Miss it looks like it should send messages, but I don’t know where its electricity comes from.
2. What is this miss? Its sort of got the alphabet on it like a keyboard
3. Miss what on earth is this? (when then told) That’s bizarre why would you want to need that? What’s wrong with a laptop?

Don’t know if any of you guessed- it was a typewriter! I forget how much technology has moved us all on and that children have no idea about some of these ‘old’ devices.

We did eventually escape and then it was back to the field for snacks and obviously running around.

Next was one of my favourites “off the ground” this is where the children choose to complete Jacobs Ladder or the crate stack. Jacobs ladder is a set of giant logs arranged in a ladder formation and they need to climb up to the top. The spaces between the logs get slightly larger as you go up. The crate challenge is building and climbing up a set of interlocking crates. This is not as high as Jacobs ladder but can be more scarey as the crates wobble and so do your legs. Rest assured that the children are in harnesses and attached to ropes so should they fall they do not go anywhere as they are on safety ropes. I cannot believe the amount of children who climbed to the top of each of these challenges. The amount who were willing to push themselves “just one more”, it was impressive to watch and to be part of.

Lunch came next with Hotdogs on the menu. Again devoured, all the climbing had made them hungry. A chance to play on the field for an hour before our afternoon activities began.

A favourite came after lunch in the form of archery. Learning to shoot a bow and arrow may be a long forgotten skill, but some of the children excelled. One child who in the practice shots where they were learning seemed to have ‘spaghetti’ arms and no sense of direction, then when it came to the real go managed to get a bullseye. I think neither I or they know how it happened, but that doesn’t matter, it was a bullseye and they scored 20 points.

A quick snack break and on to the last activity of the day – problem solving. This consisted of placing themselves in height order on a thin log, without falling off. Then we had to lift a barrel of toxic waste out of a pool full of piranha’s and then navigate a mine field trying to avoid the bombs and escape unhurt. ( Please don’t worry no children or animals were harmed in the activity and the the barrel was empty, just don’t tell the kids)

We were ready for dinner at 5:30- Spaghetti Bolognaise, garlic bread, all the salad you can eat and cake. What is not to like? The children are all eating well, love the food and want the staff to come and work at St Helens. The staff in return have complimented your children on their manners, politeness and attitude, Apparently they are “lovely” chidren, but we already knew that.

The end of the day activity was Team Challenge. We completed it in the big blow up sports hall called ‘The Dome’. We worked together to complete a number of challenges and discovered Team Work definitely does make the dream work. Who knew the amazing puzzle skills Year 6 possess- SATS should be no problem for them.

Back to the rooms, shower and bed. All in bed and fast asleep by 10 again. We start again tomorrow.

Thank you again for lending us your children, they are funny and fun in equal measures. Although we really do need to work on joke telling.

Why did the rabbit cross the road? To get to the other side!!! I rest my case.

See you Friday

Year 6, Miss B, Mr Caffrey, Ms Pope and Ms Prescillia

Day Three at Grittleton House

The day started at 7am with the iconic theme tune- “I will survive”- Gloria Gaynor step back Miss B is on the mic. The children seemed to love my song as they all covered their heads and tried to go back to sleep just so I could wake them up again. I have told them that I will be telling their parents to wake them up with a song when they are home.

Breakfast this morning was eggs and baked beans, with unlimited cereal and toast. After breakfast was a chance. To run around and explore the fields again. 

9 oclock and the activities started. One of the favourites today has been the body zorbing. Running around in a giant clear plastic ball. Hilarious!!

A quick snack break, a game of football with another school and we were off to activity number 2. Mission X is a low ropes climbing and balancing activity. The childnre have to ‘spot’ their team mate whilst they balance on wires and ropes around a course. If they master it they then have to navigate the course again but this tijme carrying a cup of water- he winner is the one who has the greatest amount of water in their cup at the end.

Lunchtime was next on the agenda, soup a baguette and salad. The soup was not the favourite lunch up until one of the kids added sweetcorn, crispy onions and cheese from the salad bar. Genius idea- suddenly everyone was asking for seconds and the vat of sweetcorn soon disappeared. We will all be taking recipe advice from Adrian in future.

After lunch we get a good hour in the grounds to play football, chat and apparently  dig for fossils. Hadn’t got the heart to tell them they were digging up the stones from the side of the path- they were happy but did not uncover any dinosaur bones.

The first activity of the afternoon was aeroball. A cross between trampoling and basket ball. The group I was with were absolute demons at it. They scored constantly and the instructor said she had never seen such proficiency on the first try.

Snack time again, a bit of football and chatting to the other school.

The last activity today was escape and evasion, running around the grounds looking for hidden boxes (in theory using a map). In the boxes are puzzles to solve and a word to create.

Dinner tonight was Chicken curry, rice and poppadoms or Mac and cheese. This dinner was a hot. They ate until they couldn’t eat anymore.

The evening activity was “The Game Show” lots of games based on game shows. The first was “The price is right” guessing the cost of some items (BMX, PLaystation and Grittleton itself). The next was a multiple choice game, it came to a head when the last question was who invented ice-cream. One group knew the answer. I was told “Miss, Miss I watched a youtube video about this”. Who said the internet was full of rubbish!

Bac, showers and bed. Another day over, an exhausted set of children and a happy group of teachers (who are also exhausted)

Thank you for letting us spend time with your children they are hilarious and crazy in equal measures, there is not a minute goes by without one of them is making us giggle.

See You Friday

Love 

Year 6, Miss B, Mr Caffrey, Ms Pope and Ms Prescillia.

The Last full day at Grittleton House

This morning felt like a Lion King morning. After being awoken with the a medley of tunes from the lion King we were up and out for breakfast. Beans and hash browns today as well as the usual.

Off to our first activities. Today it was Sensory adventure, archery, scooters and crystal maze. My group started with the crystal maze and we had several differently themed rooms that we had to solve puzzles in. My favourite was the Aztec Empire, where they had to wear elephant masks and dig as many gold rings as they could out of the sand using only their trunks! The medieval zone was amusing and they had the chance to play a tune as a group using handbells, twinkle twinkle little star has never sounded so ….interesting!

Breaktime came and went and so did their snacks. Off then to problem solving. Lining up in height order- sounds easy until you realise you are not allowed to talk to each other and have to do it whilst balancing on a log!  Lunchtime couldn’t come quick enough for us, amazing lunch today, Ramen. We got to choose the noodels, chicken, vegetables and broth. Delicious.

The afternoon was hilarious for the children as all of the groups had water wars. A lovely game involving activities whilst carrying water, that obviously turned into a water fight!! Apologies for the wet clothes in the cases-I tried to dry as much as I could.

The dinner today was burger or fishfingers. The choice of toppings was better than Five Guys and again I took my advice on combinations from our resident Gordon Ramseys.

The evening activity was of course the traditional celebration Disco. I have never seen so many break dancers, so sweaty in such a short space of time. The hall we were in smelled delightful by the end of the night!

Your children then headed to bed, happy and contented. They have had a ball. They have laughed, giggled, struggled and overcome issues with grace and humility. They have grown as a team and that was the main reason for coming.

Thank you again for lending us your children- I do have a big bag of clothes that don’t belong to any of them!!!!!! So if you are missing anything please let me know. Medication and money have been put into their bags and the snacks that are left will be used next week if that is OK.

See You Soon

Year 6, Miss B, Mr Caffrey, Ms Pope and Ms Prescillia