The report from Osmington Bay at 8.15am from Mrs Peachey this morning was with news of a beautiful sunny morning once the earlier sea mist had cleared, with the girls all in good spirits.

 

They had a very exciting scavenger hunt last night and all really enjoyed it, wearing themselves out. It can’t be said that everyone went to sleep straight away as they were all so excited!..however, they slept reasonably well and were quite comfortable, with no serious upsets.

 

After some encouragement to get up (with raucous seagulls waking many at 4am this morning!), the girls got up for a hearty breakfast. As Mrs Peachey was reporting in, many girls were rushing past in their Marist hoodies to get kitted up with water and sun screen before setting off to the beach for their morning field studies of geology, rocks and fossils. After a classroom session, they’re off to the beach to search for fossils on a coastline well known for its abundance of fossilised rocks.  After tackling the 100 different shaped steps back up from the beach the girls will be taking part in archery and abseiling, with follow up on their field trip this evening in the ICT labs studying fossils on the computer animation package. There’s much excitement all round and the girls can’t wait to get on with their day!

 

 

9.25am: This morning’s report is of damp weather with the fog horns going off in the bay. Everyone slept well after being tired out by the activities, in fact the fog horns had no effect as it was a struggle to get the girls up this morning – a little face finally peering through each window after no response from knocking for a while!

 

The girls had nice weather yesterday and got on well with their activities. Their map reading session was good, learning about six figure references and using them practically around the site, then they enjoyed making their own maps. Jacob’s Ladder was quite challenging and those that overcame their fear and got to the top, or even half way up, were very pleased with themselves.   With all the learner drivers let loose on quad bikes there were the normal lumpy starts and lots of crashes!.. no-one was hurt or put off in any way, the girls had a great time. Mrs Peachey’s group tackled the climbing wall and loved it, with everyone desperate to have more goes. Some scampered up like monkeys and others tried very hard to achieve the climb, with their own competition at the end to see who could climb up the furthest in 30 seconds. The computer follow up couldn’t be done due to technical problems but it turned out for the best as the girls enjoyed a general knowledge game they did instead, finding flags around the site and answering questions about that country.

 

Today is focussed on practical conservation where the girls will be making bird feeders and animal boxes to use around the site. Everyone had to steal an apple from breakfast for the workshop this morning, so it will be interesting to see what they’re used for! This afternoon one group is climbing, one a sensory trail (crawling around in little trails, may be a muddy experience!) and the other are guinea pigs (not yet done by Marist girls) for the zip wire. Its all followed by a get together and singing round the camp fire tonight (the girls are well practiced as their group leader Lewis has been getting the girls to sing as loud as they can everywhere they go!). Apart from a few grazes the girls are enjoying their experiences and their spirits are high.

 

 

9.45am: This morning’s report was a little delayed as the teachers’ hectic activities started at 5.30am with their clearing and packing and making sure the girls are all packed (plus arranging the birthday cake & celebrations for Emma Leighton this morning!).   With all the suitcases now ready together the girls are having a run around before their first session.

 

Yesterday cleared up to become a lovely sunny day and all the activities went well. Mrs Peachey is proud to announce that her group all got to the top of Jacob ’s ladder, so they’re thrilled with themselves! Everyone else enjoyed the other activities of climbing, zip wire and problem solving. The practical conservation field studies were very good. The girls looked at reasons for conserving the earth’s resources and animals and at different sites measured the weather temperature, ground, air and wind rate. They then decided which area to work on, making bird or butterfly feeders and planting seeds and wild flowers. The reason for the apple collecting became clear when the girls prepared the cores, pressing flower seeds into them and hanging them on string in the local habitat for the wide variety of birds to enjoy. They also made flowers with cotton wool soaked in sugar water in the centre to attract butterflies and made bug homes out of bamboo canes.

 

The camp fire was a roaring success with vigorous singing, dancing and actions. The 5 instructors must be suffering from exhaustion and sore throats after 1⅓ hours of enthusiastic singing! 

 

The girls are due to leave around 2-2.30 (depending on last minute requirements!) with an expected return time of 4.15 (give or take 10 or 15 minutes). Any change to this will be recorded on Option 4 on the main school number: 01344 626137.