The Blogging Zone

Thrills and Spills

Conchar’s Song and Dance Troupe ably led by Jess M, Sarah W, Zoe and Katie have been entertaining everyone in the lunch queue with their Banana Song… don’t worry I have it on video. Actually Mr Fyfe’s Funky Monkey after breakfast ran it a close second. Predictably, my lot were learning a song about a gorilla in the jungle with a snotty nose!

Actually, on the subject of breakfast, Ambrose’s classic comment this morning was:’I love this fried bread, how do they make it???’ He’s like a squirrel stocking up for the winter. Where does he put it all? Meanwhile Ben M just ploughs his way steadily through second helpings of coco pops, chips and beans.

Team Challenge involved dragging themselves through cargo nets, up, under, through tyres and across rope bridges. Emily H chose a white sweatshirt as suitable attire: that’ll be an interesting challenge for Vanish and Mum’s washing machine. Leah and Aimee struggled to keep their trousers on and were constantly hitching them up. Aimee reckoned it was a good job she was wearing two pairs. Kids were pushed, pulled and boosted through tyres, occasionally they got stuck like Matthew and Harriet but never stopped grinning and finally they were squirted, shot or collapsed out of the other end. Once again my group smashed the Centre record but collapsed in a heap with aching backs, bruised knees and shins.

Kirsty R entered the Lazer Zone on a mission to annihilate Mrs J, who, lacking access to a Kalashnikov, was tempted to call for Fyfe backup. However, she who laughs last laughs longest and Mrs J had her revenge in Den Building and Night Line. Connor also excelled himself with a weapon in his hand and has been nicknamed The Terminator.

Ryan was extremely reluctant to participate in Circus Skills until he discovered he was a whiz at Diabolo and then there was no stopping him.

Caitlin, aka the Bearded Woman, took camouflage to extremes during Den Building. And yes we do have photographic evidence!

Matthew crashed on every lap of the quad bike track but in a different place each time. Worryingly when told to go clockwise promptly went anti-clockwise. He fared no better on the go karts when it was reckoned that it was the kart itself taking him around rather than vice versa. Courtney surprised herself by going round on the quad bikes but drew the line at being off the leash!

Encouragement and support from other group members has driven people further than they would ever have thought possible. David T and Eleanor actually completed the Leap of Faith, and Chloe helped Emily H on the abseiling tower. Hannah de J announced: ‘The Leap of Faith is easy…until you get to the top!’ Meanwhile Sylvie climbed to the top of the abseiling tower, had a look over and waved, then cheerfully descended to terra firma.

So we’ll be back soon: prepare to fumigate your homes as the suitcases are unpacked, get out the arnica and sympathy for the bruises and aches because, thankfully, soon they are ALL YOURS!!!!

Mrs B

A Taster of the Action and Reaction

Thought you might enjoy looking at these few photos which I've managed to download.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Find great Clip Art Images.

Brotherly Love!

Hi there Mrs B, Paul Kirby here, glad your having fun with my sister, i dont know about her driving but she drives me mad at home, so she is obviously taking it out on the car since im not there. I remember doing the lazer quest that was my all time fav closely followed by the absailing  (not) i hated that.  Have fun with my darling sister ha ha. 

Paul (enjoying the quiet house in Guensey)

Hi
I am having trouble writing my own stories. Is there a way to think of
a story easier?

Chloe

We'll be stealing writer's tricks when we get back to school and start reading Boy Overboard by Moris Gleitzman.

Mrs B

Dear Jane

I am having alot of fun in ur class and you make things alot easier and
that makes me more confident about myself.

Poor Mrs.Rosa parks dieing at 92.

Were u 2 close?

those last 2 messages about Mrs.Rose and about havin fun in ur class
were from...



                    EMMA

Thanks Emma, no I never met Rosa Parks but I really admired her courage and determination. She is one of my heroes.

Mrs B

hi i really wish it was me instead of my brother (michael)in kingswood
it was so fun =) when i went to france with beaucamp a few weeks a go i
did the zipwire and iv been bursting  to do it again =(  i hope u all
have fun with out me ;( =( :(

        emma

It's been great Emma, and Michael's in my group. He's a demon near anything with a motor!!

Mrs B

Blood, Sweat, Tears and True Colours

Parents you have no idea of the blood, sweat and tears I am putting into keeping you informed. After breakfast I was waxing lyrical on the Blogging Zone, just finished a long, amusing account and … the firewall lost it.. without trace. So a large cup of coffee later this is version 2.

A word of advice: start putting money aside now to cover insurance premiums and consider enrolling in

College

of

Further Education

classes in car bodywork repairs and basic mechanical engineering. Having watched your offspring hurtle around the go kart track, believe me it would be time and money well spent. Sarah K, however, is a totally different ball game and should never be allowed anywhere close to the wheel of anything with an engine. Her ‘novel’ approach to stopping required no brakes: you hurtle at speed towards the largest water filled red and white crash barrier which cartwheels spectacularly into the air before coming to rest across the front of the kart!

The cool French dude, Zac, sped around the track, second time round, with a sexy wiggle after taking every bend, as he fought for control without losing speed! Meanwhile Jordan Le P had the ‘Devil May Care’ approach producing a great variety of bumps, shunts and 360 spins. Sad to say, Aimee, encapsulated every aspect of the traditional female driver: over caution, lack of control, panic …she shut her eyes tight every time before one particular bend in anticipation of what frequently happened… a crash!

Tyler

never shut his and hurtled round finding the fastest racing line and was the only one to score a sub 14sec lap. He took off his helmet and celebrated in true F1 style! He was pushed all the way by that demon Shana, whose driving, Mr Fyfe remarked, made mine look safe!!! Although Jess could barely reach the pedals that didn’t stop her flooring it round in a credible 14 secs, closely pursued by Ambrose grinning like a mad man. Mrs Conchar is all set to hand in her notice and turn pro!

Michael D came into his own n the archery with Louise Conchar scoring 120. Jamie T and a few others found an unusual way of increasing their number of attempts by getting the arrow to hit the target but rebound back to them. Meanwhile Ben A swore he had done archery before…funny thing was that he then held the bow upside down!

King of the Climbing Wall and Bouldering was Michael D again who even saw an instructor off in one game. Amazingly all my group got halfway up the wall and many to the top. Shana and Harriet decided they weren’t built for it and along with Zac were surprised how quickly the strength suddenly drained from their arms even after they had been going so well.

James R has metamorphed into a perky, bouncy kid who gets to the canteen queue 10mins early to be at the front of the queue. He also loves to get down and dirty. We had two teams building a refugee shelter out of tarpaulin, ropes, logs and tyres inside which the whole team had to be able to shelter during the approaching monsoon and typhoon. Noticeably, the girls took charge: Eleanor’s team couldn’t get a word in edgeways; and Harriet, Zoe, Katie and Emma F were quite prepared to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in, ignoring what effect it was having on their hair and nails.. Megan needed a little more persuasion. Connor willingly moved heavy logs all on his own. The shelters looked great until, under the onslaught of the predicted severe weather, they fell apart and everyone was soaked and covered in mud!!

Mrs H’s group were first to tackle the Leap of Faith and most succeeded, all had a go. Jake had an interesting horizontal approach to standing up at the top, ending up looking like a stranded fish (photos to follow). On the subject of animals, Ben A wrapped himself around the top of the pole like a panda and tried to give up, however, with coaxing and encouragement from his group, surprised himself. Demi, Leah and Ceejay made it look like a walk in the park but the real superstar was Mrs H. She was challenged to beat 40secs and shot up like a rat up the drainpipe in 20.28secs!!

So everyone’s well fed: in Julia’s case that means 16 orange quarters, Emma F has mainlined grapefruit whilst the rest are coco popped up. The day ahead promises abseiling, quad biking, lazer quest and grovelling under netting. More later.

At Last

Actually, I have now forgiven the teacher hogging the computer because I've learnt that she'd just heard her school was being inspected on Friday and her deputy head back home was totally stressed out!

So, back to the first incident and I have to admit that at the airport when we were ready to go, Mr Fyfe asked me to lead off with my group and I did.... right past the departure lounge heading for the retaurant. In my defence all I can say is that the caffeine deprivation was beginning to factor in. The flight was smooth and we landed at a deserted Stansted, I don't know if it carried a lot of Excel Flights but we've never seen it so quiet.

Ben M caused the next laugh when he swore his light blue suitcase was missing. Everyone else had theirs and all that was unclaimed was a very dark blue case which I had to open in order to persuade him it was actually his!!

Mr Fyfe marched us all out into the coach park, with Ceejay admiring a very smart blue coach. There was no sign of ours, and since we were late out things didn't look good. Mr Fyfe therefore telephoned the company who telephoned our driver... yes you've guessed it, he was the driver of the blue coach standing right next to us!!

Despite numerous warnings about the length of the coach journey Sarah K and Thomas S were absolutely bursting for the loo by the time they arrived and were whisked away by Mrs J to their immense relief. Obviously Sarah only had the one thing on her mind and so left her cardigan on the coach, it was rescued by the hard hearted Mrs B who showed no mercy and insisted she do a forfeit. Ben M was also punished for leaving a leaking water bottle behind.. he was given an early shower!

After supper heavy bags were dragged over to our dorm. Susie B had to mountaineer up a flight of stairs which was no mean feat. Needless to sday they were all excited and there was no way they were going to sleep early. Some are obviously delicate little flowers who were like the Princess and the pea and felt every spring in the mattress. There wee a couple of interesting solutions: the more enterprising quickly comandeered any spare duvets and slept on them; others put their dressing gown on and slept on top of their duvets; Louise and Aimee however, decided to lay their dressing gowns on the floor and sleep on top of them in their duvets!!

Everyone fueled up on Coco Pops, toast and bacon at breakfast. My group took to the fencing with Jordan, Tyler and Jamie posing showing off their curvaceous figures in the protective breast plates. Jess gave Tyler no mercy when she fought him..the only rules she seemed to be using were the Marquess of Queensbury version!! Meanwhile Louise and Michael D were the stars in the archery.

So all's well so far: they are all in one piece and us teachers are still hanging onto our sanity!

Mrs B

.

Sorry For The Delay

This was not for want of trying... I've been directing evil thoughts at a another teacher who's been hogging the only computer for 1 solid hour! Your little darlings even woke me early to make sure I had plenty of time.. 5.15am even before the birds for heavens sake! However, the whole Kingswood intranet was down until coffee time, this also happened last year and Mr Fyfe blames me. So I have blagged my way into administration and pinched one of their computers so at least I can get some news out. I'll flesh out more details later.

Apart from being insomniacs and having small bladders (the last loo trip was at 12:30am last night) the good news is that your kids seem to have accepted us as satisfactory surrogates and no one has been inconsolably homesick. Today is a gorgeous day , still and sunny, and everyone's happy and occupied.

More soon... stay tuned.

Mrs B