Our final morning started and ended with torrential rain! After a final packing session and breakfast, the children completed their final two activities. As you can see from the pictures above, the children enjoyed themselves right to the end.

Fond memories will be recalled over the coming days, months and even years - and not just by the children. As always, pupils from Quinton House School entered into the spirit of PGL and as a result thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Many thanks to Mrs Murrell for organising the trip, Miss Meir who came with just one day's notice and Mr Haines whose laptop and 3G card enabled us to complete the daily blog.

Mrs S Haines

The weather remained dry all afternoon at the Dub despite a forecast of rain. The children thoroughly enjoyed their time on the water despite stories of a giant squid!

The disco and talent show have been the talk of the day - although the start has been delayed for packing and tidying of dormitories.

The groups will complete their final activities before lunch tomorrow. We will leave about 1pm after the final farewells and photographs.

This morning was warm and cloudy but dry. However, one group was destined to get wet. Two rafts were built successfully and taken down to the water's edge. The above raft held together and kept afloat. 'The Titanic' started to fall apart even before all the crew had boarded. Three ended up in the water and a valiant attempt was made to rescue her.

Meanwhile, the other two groups were on the lake in dragon boats - although the dragon heads were missing from the boats today. Rowing in time to Queen's 'We will rock you', the boats raced up and down the Dub in a serious competition.

It continued to rain all afternoon. Fortunately most of the waiting areas for the activities were under large trees. The zipwire and trapeze have become 'my all-time new favourites' (Charlie).

Many children conquered their fear of heights today- some reached the top of the ladder, others swung from the trapeze with confidence. Children have been very supportive and encouraging to those who needed the extra boost.

Tonight's activity has been an exciting version of Cluedo with PGL staff dressing as different characters. Tomorrow we will travel to the 'Dub' for dragon boating and raft building. In the evening preparations are underway for a talent show and disco.

This morning's activities have included the zipwire, low ropes, 'survivor' training and initiative exercises. The above photograph shows a group trying to get each other through the spider's web. Later they planned a picnic which included apples, a squirrel, bees and a small bar of chocolate. It took a lot of thinking to work out what they could bring and what had to be left behind. Another group learnt how to survive in the outdoors making a shelter and collecting fire wood.

Pupil comments:

'We all tried to get the £20 note in the tyre on the zipwire' - Saskia.

'I really enjoyed rolling around in the big muddy puddles yesterday' -Natasha.

''I've enjoyed everything!' - Antoinette.

'I picked up a bucket and soaked everyone' - Brandon.

'I liked covering everyone in mud'- Edwin.

Wednesday Morning

Weather has changed - we now have drizzle, but the children don't seem to notice.

We will post comments from the children this afternoon.

Monday and Tuesday

We arrived safely at Hillcrest about 3.30 and the children were introduced to their 'groupies' - Chris and Chris - who have subsequently been renamed by the pupils. A tour of the site, dormitories and facilities followed along with a fire drill. Tea, campfire songs and a DVD were the evening entertainments before a relatively quiet bedtime.

Tuesday

Today we stayed on site and each group took part in four activities. The wet and muddy challenge course was a favourite with many, along with abseiling, climbing, fencing and the trapeze.

The weather has been warm and sunny, although it was a little breezy in the morning.
A good selection of food has been available at all meal times. The tuck shop and a 'man hunt' are planned for this evening.

The children are looking forward to the zipwire, initiative exercises, low ropes and fieldcraft techniques tomorrow.