PGL 2017
Monday
Today we were very lucky as our journey to PGL was a smooth one with no traffic. When we were close and could actually see the site, our excitement grew. There were many looks of amazement as we got our first view of activities such as the high ropes. We were even more fortunate because our rooms were available when we got there: lovely log cabins. After we had dropped our luggage off, it was time for lunch: pizza day! We all enjoyed it and then we had some time to explore the site. The weather today has rained on and off and as we were walking around, it rained. That didn’t dampen our spirits though and it made us even more eager to experience all of the activities that we saw. Some of us then headed to the football pitch, whilst others went to the sports hall for rounders and basketball. Another delicious dinner boosted our energy for playing ambush this evening. We had to work as a team to find a hiding place somewhere in the sheer darkness of the grounds and hope that the other team, who were trying to find us, went past our hiding spot without finding us. If they did, we won the game. It’s the end of an enjoyable day, but we can’t wait for tomorrow when we have our first proper activities!
Tuesday
Today was our first day of activities and what a day! We woke up to sunshine and birds singing even if it was a little cold. We had a hearty breakfast in preparation for the activities. Today each group had a mixture of fun-filled challenges. These included: Giant Swing, Tunnel Trail, Jacob’s Ladder, Orienteering, Aeroball and Archery. Giant Swing is a test of our nerves – you are pulled up high and have to be brave enough to pull the rope to drop down and enjoy the ride! Tunnel Trail allows us to play lots of games such as Pac Man vs Ghosts in underground tunnels that we had to crawl through. Jacob’s Ladder involves working as a team to work our way up logs that get further and further apart the higher you get. It also allowed us to learn an important skill for the week ahead – how to belay! Orienteering helped us to practise our map-reading skills and use our ability to work in a team. Aeroball is like basketball but on trampolines – lots of fun! Archery got us aiming at different targets and firing arrows at high velocity. The evening ended with a campfire where we sang lots of silly songs and included some crazy dances. We have had so much fun today and can’t wait to continue our adventure tomorrow.
Wednesday
Another glorious day meant that we were all raring to go for today’s activities: Trapeze, Problem Solving, Abseiling, Vertical Challenge, Sensory Trail, High Ropes and All Aboard. Trapeze involves climbing a telegraph pole with a wooden square - the size of a pizza box – at the top. When we got there, we had to stand up, walk towards the edge and make a death-defying leap to grab a bar in front of us. Problem solving made us work as a team to try to succeed in a number of interesting challenges. Abseiling was where we went to the top of a tower and made our way down. Some walked whilst others jumped and dropped! Vertical challenge is where we have to get to the top by getting past rope ladders, tyres, a climbing wall and netting. Sensory trail helps us to realise how important sight is as we have to get through an obstacle course with all of our group blindfolded. High ropes is like an obstacle course in the sky – not for the faint hearted! All aboard builds even further on our teamwork skills as we have to work together to climb onto circular boards getting smaller and smaller until we reach the top. If you reach the top, you can dance and then have a battle to see who falls off first! Great fun. It has been really pleasing to see how much more confident the children have become and they are building new friendships. Today was a sad day because we said goodbye to Ms Dobson, but on a brighter note, we welcomed Miss Webb. Tonight we have played wacky races that have had us doing lots of silly things in our groups. Everyone is ready for bed following our extremely active day.
Thursday
We continue to be fortunate with the weather as blue skies were with us once again. A day of action-packed, fun-filled adventure awaited us once again. Today the groups had mixed activities again which included High Ropes, Sensory Trail, All Aboard, Aeroball, Vertical Challenge, Trapeze, Abseiling and Zip Wire. Zip wire is where we take a jump off the platform and fly across the fields to the other side of the site. As we have already described the other activities, see if you can work out which ones each group completed. The children are now expert belayers and have a new-found confidence with climbing and heights. There is a remarkable difference between now and the start of the week. After an exciting day, we went to our rooms to prepare for our disco. There were some excellent dance moves on show. We are excited about tomorrow because we have two more activities and we get to see our families again too.
Friday
We awoke to our final morning at PGL and had to clear our rooms before breakfast. A bit of rain was forecast for later in the morning as we prepared for our last two activities. The groups once again had different sessions, which included archery, zip wire, tunnel trail and orienteering. The children showed off lots of new skills that they had gained from their experiences through the week and maintained the enthusiasm that they had at the start of the week. It was pleasing to see how children had grown in confidence and there were one or two that made some amazing personal achievements on the final day. We enjoyed our last lunch at PGL and then began to board the coach. We were very sad to be leaving, but were excited to be reunited with our families once again. A tiring week was evident as many of us fell asleep on our journey home, but we were all very proud of what we had completed this week and knew that we had made some memories which will last a lifetime.
