Y6s Residential To Flatford Mill – By Emma H and Emily L
“As soon as the coach pulled up at Flatford Mill, we were all chatty and excited . We gathered our suitcases and wellington boots together and started to head down to the Mill. Once we were off the coach, we had to walk down a long road while pulling our suitcase along behind us (it was a very long walk!). Then, we were taken into a building called Valley Farm, which some of us stayed in. After that, we were told the three activity groups that we would be in. The group leaders were called Sam, Marcus and Irene. Group 1’s first activity was orienteering, while group 2 were doing survival skills, and group 3 were doing pond dipping. And, yes, the residential was quite a mucky one!
After we had a delicious meal of pizza and chips, all the groups headed off to their last activity of the day. Group 1 and 3 had green artist while group 2 had a campfire. At the campfire, songs were sung, hot chocolate was chugged and riddles were solved. Meanwhile, at green artist, we were creating unique, natural pieces of art inspired by the inspiring artist Andy Goldsworthy.
Night one was a wild one. We all had tonnes of energy (the teachers didn’t seem too happy about that!). Squishies were squished, beds were jumped on and “UNO!” was yelled. Eventually, we all got to sleep (but only for a few hours).
The next morning, we awoke to a delicious breakfast and, as soon as we had finished, we headed to our first activity mammal trapping.
In the mammal trapping activity, we filled the traps with hay then added fruit, meal worms/maggots and seeds. After, we left the traps to catch some mammals. The next morning, we checked the traps and we found no mammals so we tried once more and we succeeded! Overall, we found 4 mammals, including voles and mice. We had worked up a great appetite so it was time for our home-made sandwiches.
That morning, we had made sandwiches for our lunch, There were different stations: the first was where you buttered your bread and the next station was toppings you could add cheese, tuna, egg, ham and so much more. Station 3 was crisps and biscuits! If you didn’t want sandwiches there was different types of pasta too.
After we ate, we headed to our next activity- survival skills. We learnt how to build a shelter, filter water and create a fire. First, we filtered water using a water bottle a cloth and dirty water. We had to put the cloth over half a water bottle then pour the water into the other bottle to filter the water- we had to do it a few times. Next, we had shelter building, we were put into our groups. We had to pick a base first and then started building around the base, once we had finished our instructor poured water on us to see if it was a good shelter. Finally, we were taken to sit around the campfire where we made fires. First, we used a metal stick and rectangle, also a replacement for flint, then we used it on a piece of cotton wool in a small, tart sized dish. Some of us succeeded, yet some didn’t .
Next was dinner and we all were starving after a packed day! For dinner, we had a delicious mushroom pasta. We all ate it very quickly in anticipation for our sticky toffee pudding. Everyone loved it and we had some time to spare so we played in the garden for a bit. We all crashed out that night way quicker than we expected.
The next morning, we had a fry up and made our sandwiches. We headed out for our final activity of the residential. It was so fun! Then, we all ate together on the grass. A great way to end our residential !
We were sad to say goodbye to Flatford Mill but we all made memories that would last a lifetime.”
