Wye Valley - Day 1. - Southill Primary School

Hello everyone from Year 5 in sunny, beautiful Wye Valley! We have had a fabulous first day on our residential trip and have really been enjoying ourselves. After our long coach journey, we arrived to a little rain which soon cleared, leaving us dry to head through the forest and along the river to the hostel, our home for the next few days.

After a hearty lunch, we headed to the grounds for our afternoon activities in the sun!

First up was fencing! We learnt about using the helmet to protect our face and neck and the tabbard to protect our chest and score points against our opponent. We were then shown different techniques with the foil including lunging and windmilling! After a few fights and practices with our partners, we had a little tournament to finish the session, ‘Please take a respectful bow, en garde, allez!’

Next was orienteering and this was a great opportunity to pair up with our friends, head around the ground of the hostel to get our bearings and really appreciate the beauty of where we are staying. Well done to those winning pairs who were quickest and most accurate in finding the marks!

Before a delicious dinner was the bit we had all been waiting for, rooms! Lots of excitement to see who our dormer-buddies will be for the next few nights!

The evening was spent learning spy techniques such as accessory changing to fool the enemy and teambuilding electric bridge creations!

The evening was completed with a gorgeous walk along the river Wye and we are now settled down for a calm, peaceful first night’s sleep ready for canoeing down the River Wye to Monmouth tomorrow!