Mrs Inkson (Head of Year 6)
This week saw the return of the Year 6 residential visit to Preston Montford Field Studies Centre in Shropshire. Blue skies and sunshine were above as we set off on Monday morning full of excitement and anticipation. We arrived at the centre to be greeted by fields of sheep and our group leaders Charlotte and Abby who couldn’t wait to get us started on our activities.
Team building games were first on the agenda followed by short course orienteering. Getting to know our new team mates from other classes and developing our skills as effective team players was important in order to be successful (and not get lost!). Possibly the biggest challenge of day one was making our beds and learning how to put a duvet inside its cover without putting ourselves in too! After a hearty dinner we learned how to set up a 5-star mammal hotel and choose the best location for it overnight in order to hopefully entice some local wildlife to visit.
Tuesday morning dawned bright with more sunshine. First up was checking our mammal hotels to see if we had any visitors – we were so excited to see a field vole had enjoyed some of our snacks that we had left out! Animal hunting was the theme of the day for Tuesday. We enjoyed pond dipping, going on an invertebrate hunt and setting up a science investigation to test which natural materials would be best for a mammal to make a home in in order to keep warm. Our inquiring minds were definitely kept busy with all of these activities, comparing the different species found in the variety of habitats around the Field Studies Centre. After dinner we had the ‘Great Egg Challenge’ – could we collaborate as a team to design and construct a case to protect bird’s eggs that get knocked off of cliff edges? We are pleased to say that three groups managed to keep their eggs intact even after a drop of about 15 metres!
What a change in the weather Wednesday brought – it’s a good job we all brought our waterproofs as the rain definitely came down! We didn’t let it stop us though as we dressed up in waterproofs and wellies to take part in more activities including learning how to use a compass correctly and long course orienteering. Some of us even practiced our moves when dancing in our wellies in the sheep field! Back inside afterwards to dry out with a drink and some biscuits ready for our final session evaluating and reflecting on everything we had learned from our visit.
Lexi (Year 6): “I found it really interesting learning how to tell if an animal is nocturnal or not from the size of its eyes and ears.”
Karin (Year 6): “My favourite activity was the Great Egg Challenge as it was really fun to see everyone’s designs and to watch them being dropped!”
Eleanor (Year 6) “I really enjoyed the pond dipping as you normally see insects and things around but you don’t get a chance to see what is actually living in ponds.”
View photos here.
