On Thursday 24 May Pocklington Prep Year 2 pupils arrived at School dressed for a fantastic outdoor camping adventure, carrying their sleeping bags, back packs and roll mats.

The day began with the children setting up camp on the School grounds where, through team work, they set up their tents and beds for the evening. Mr Hall and Miss Lamb along with their Gold Duke of Edinburgh volunteers from Pocklington School, arrived to teach small groups of children about emergency first aid and looking for dangers as well as sending SOS messages. They also shared their survival stories and skills from their own expeditions.

In the afternoon team members from Forest Quest came to meet all the Year 2 pupils at the far side of the school grounds near the Spinney. The children learnt about important survival skills including how to light a fire with a flint, which they all did very successfully.

Mrs Walton, Pocklington Prep Year 2 teacher commented: “It was wonderful to see the children persevere in this activity and give each other advice so they all could be successful. They showed great team work and thoughtfulness for one another.”

The next activity involved the children collecting small pieces of wood to build a pyramid so they could start their own team fires to cook their food on later. The biggest challenge was to keep these fires fed and alight for the course of the afternoon!

The different teams of children were then given stakes, rope and tarpaulin to build a den. They had to a find suitable place to build their shelter and they were taught how to tie knots to keep their den secure.

Mrs Walton said: “The children worked together and supported each other. It was wonderful to see the confidence we have fostered over this academic year come into fruition as they worked together taking into account each other’s views and opinions.”

The children then had the exciting task of cooking their own tea. They were given a box of food rations and a recipe card to make chicken pasta (the chicken was precooked!) They divided the jobs between their team members to cook their teas and they all cleared their plates and washed up too!

After filling their tummy's the children learnt about Morse code and sent each other messages with whistles across the grounds, where they then had to be deciphered.

Of course toasting marshmallows and making 'smores' whilst drinking hot chocolate, finished the evening off very nicely!

Everyone returned back to base camp very tired, smelling of camp fire and feeling happy with all of their achievements.  They all settled down quietly for a story in their tents before a super quiet night until 7am when… the rain began! The children packed their tents away and enjoyed a fabulous well-earned Boarders’ breakfast.

Reflecting on the camp, Mrs Walton commented: “This was such an enjoyable experience in which the children behaved impeccably. Staff from Forest Quest commented on how well behaved and interested the children all seemed to be.

“Our Year 2 pupils seemed to have matured overnight into Prep children: risk takers where they persevered to overcome obstacles and become more confident.  These are important skills to develop on the journey to becoming resilient and build a growth mind-set which benefits them throughout their lives. Forever memories made!   Well done Year 2! “

Here are some quotes from the pupils:

“The fire was incredible because we made it so big!” Bobby

“We like sleeping in the tents because all our friends were next to us.”   George

“I had never done this before and it was really cool.” Harry

“We made sparks with a flint and cardboard, it was tricky but I got the hang of it.” Faye

“I really liked the pasta we cooked on the fire.”  Ralph

“Our tent was the latest to bed and the earliest up!” Daniel