Ardres 2015: Photos

I've uploaded a large selection of my photos into a Google album.

Click here for JC's album of Ardres 2015 photos.

Ardres 2015: Thank you

The group, just before we left on Friday morning

Now that we're all back safe and sound, I expect the children are regaling parents with tales of all the good things they got up to in the sunshine last week.  I certainly hope so.

The Ardres trip almost didn't happen this year.  I reserved the village and got things under way with the paperwork then asked the usual staff if they would like to join me.  For a variety of perfectly good reasons, none of those who have come before were able to make it, so I was in a bit of a fix and it looked like the trip would have to be cancelled.  As a late and somewhat desperate last resort, I sent out an email plea to all the College teachers and also asked some of the other staff if anyone would be prepared to give up their half term to save the trip.  Mr Batstone volunteered straight away and said he also thought that Mr Ritchie might like to come.  A little while later Mrs Salih came forward, followed by Ms Morgan when I needed even more staff because so many pupils wanted to go.  We owe the success of the trip and the huge enjoyment that was had by all last week to these good people and I am sure you would all join me in extending our appreciation that they were prepared to give up their time for the children.  In the event, they made a really good team and it turns out that they all enjoyed the trip as well, giving very positive feedback afterwards.

Thanks also, of course, to the supportive parents who have read and responded to my email deluge and particularly to the pupils who were so enthusiastic and positive towards all the activities and hardly gave us any trouble at all.  Two of the instructors separately told me that this was the best group that had stayed at the centre all season and they had very much enjoyed working with them. After handing the pupils back to me after the sessions, the general comments from the instructors were that the children were "lovely", "great", "brilliant" and so on, which is really good to hear.

Thanks also to Mr Taylor-West for being so keen that the trip should go ahead and to Mrs O'Neill-Roe and Mr Warner for helping deal with the paperwork and financial side of things.

I have already asked Acorn if we can have the same again next year, so I am hoping to be able to launch the 2016 trip in the middle of the Michaelmas term.

I will be posting a link to a gallery of a selection of photos as soon as I can get them sorted and uploaded (there are quite a few!).

Travel update

Currently waiting for the 13:30 (French time) ferry which is scheduled to run to time.  On track so far.

Update: 13:50 (English time) Owing to the adverse weather (it's a bit lumpy out here!) the ferry is expected to be around 40 minutes late arriving at Dover.

Update: 15:10. We have now disembarked and are driving through Dover. We expect to be back at around 5pm unless the incident reported on the M25 causes issues.

Update: 16:25. Just passing Gatwick and expecting to arrive at the College just after 5pm.

Finally ...  I'm pleased to report that we pulled up at the College at 5:04pm and all was well.

"Stand by your tents!"

Ready for Captain Salih's Level 7 tent inspection.

It's Bebe B's birthday

13 today!

Archery

The children are just about to play the cutlery game. This means they win a different piece of cutlery for each colour they manage to hit on the target with their three arrows. They then must eat their supper using only the cutlery they managed to win ... or none at all ...

Coming off the lake

Just swapping from kata-kanu to canoes.

More sunshine!

After a somewhat less than promising start, the day has brightened up. We have two groups out on the lake this morning in kayaks and kata-kanu (a sort of catamaran canoe).

Bushcraft

One of the groups is learning survival skills in the woods this morning.

Morning cuppa

I am reliably informed that this is Princess Celestia the Alicorn.
Don't ask ...

Form an orderly queue for the tuck shop ...

A quiet afternoon on the lake.

A group of our paddle boarders can be seen in the distance and we have another group at the other end of the lake in canoes. The third group is doing high ropes and the fourth is on the climbing wall. The sun, amazingly, continues to shine.

Climbing wall

After the fencing session, the adventurers have a go on the climbing wall.

Crates

Aimee and Saffron balancing on a tower of crates, seconds before it all collapsed.

Fencing tuition

Learning how to use the kata-kanu

Note that the sun is shining once again!

Ice cream tonight!

Since the weather is so warm today, we decided to take advantage and visit M. Sigler's ice cream shop this evening.

More sunshine!

Another group gets ready for a session of raft-building and stand-up paddle boarding.

The mighty Moctar

Moctar at the top of the pole in the high ropes activity.

Kayaking on the lake

Raft building in the sunshine

A beautiful warm sunny morning and all the activities are under way.

Arrived safely

After a very smooth journey, everyone has arrived safely.

Ardres 15: Travel information etc.

I received some details at the end of the week from Acorn about bags. They recommend packing one soft bag of maximum size 40x50x70cm, max weight 20kg.  That is actually quite large and if your bag is smaller and the sleeping bag doesn't fit inside, please make sure that you name the bag containing the sleeping bag as they can easily get mixed up.  I do have one luggage label for each person.  One small piece of hand luggage and the pillow is recommended to be carried inside the coach, but put the pillow in the main bag if you prefer (and it fits!).  Please bring some food and water.  Acorn have confirmed that the first meal at Ardres will be in the evening, so the children will need to bring their own packed lunch (not to be eaten on the coach!).

I heard one of the children mention on Friday the intention to travel in a onesie.  This would not be acceptable!  The headmaster has reminded the pupils that they are representing the College, particularly when travelling on the public ferry, and they do need to be acceptably dressed.  The trip clothing would be ideal as it would make it easier for the staff to spot the pupils.  (Any clothing not collected on Friday will be given out on Monday morning).

Please make sure that any medicines which need to be taken regularly are handed to a member of staff with clear instructions about doses and times.  Thanks to those parents who have already emailed me with instructions.  Pupils requiring inhalers should also bring adequate numbers and we would recommend giving staff a spare, labelled one.

I have been checking the weather forecast and it has been getting gradually more optimistic,  now predicting plenty of sunshine on Tuesday and Wednesday in particular, with probably a nice breeze (for the sailing activity).  This is excellent but does mean that the children are likely to be outdoors in the sunshine all day with limbs and faces poking out  -  hopefully getting tanned rather than burned, so please bring some high factor waterproof sunblock.

Good news regarding tents.  I have been in touch with Acorn and they are able to let us have a couple of extra tents since the other adjacent village is not occupied, and this gives us a bit more flexibility.  I have been able to accommodate people's wishes (although there are some conflicting requests!) and we can hopefully be fairly flexible with those who did not express a preference as we do not have to squeeze everybody in to fill all the tents.  I will be discussing and finalising the arrangements with some people during Monday's journey.

We will have five groups for the activities and these will be announced and finalised on arrival.

Whenever we need to collect everyone together and check people, the pupils will need to report to the member of staff listed below.  There is no need to stay together in these groups, they are simply to allow us to tick everyone off on our lists efficiently. I have given Mr Ritchie all the girls (since he is not likely to know pupils and this will make it easier), and the others have been arranged alphabetically.  Please report to this person on arrival on Monday morning.

Mr Ritchie
Saffron Ahern, Bebe Bernstein, Aimee Cheeseman, Lilia Erskine, Rebecca Hemingway, Maddie Marinko Maechler, Amber Spicer, Lili Veness

Mr Batstone
Thomas Adlam, Finley Allen, George Cameron, Mackenzie Cannon, Ben Christie, Henry Clark, Michael Cunningham, Josh Davison, Luca Falletti

Mr Court
Beau Fletcher, Max Gausden, Martin Green, Ethan Highwood, Jonny Hood, Moctar Johnson, Llewy Jones, Alfie Lucas, Charlie Metcalfe, Eden Montrose

Ms Morgan
Joe O'Dell, William Orams, Harry Parker, Oliver Patey, Thomas Prate, Torin Seagrove, Dylan Shane, Matthew Sharp, Alfie Simpson

Mrs Salih
Levi Smith, Zachary Tarry, Harry Taswell, Patrick Taylor, Jack Teale, Svante Wallseth, Fred Wilson, Tom Wootton, Oscar Worley

I look forward to seeing you all at 6.30 on Monday morning.  Please drive in to the College car park and avoid parking in St Julian's Lane as the coach is likely to need the space in the road to manoeuvre.

We have clothing!

I am very relieved to report that two large boxes of hoodies and T-shirts have just arrived and I am now sorting them out and hope to be able to give them out at break tomorrow (Friday).

JC

These are now sorted, bagged, labelled and ready to collect  -  any time on Friday, DT room.

Ardres 2015: Travel Itinerary

This is hopefully the final version of the itinerary. Any updates will, of course, be posted. Also, watch this space for updated return times.

Monday 25th May 2015 Outward journey

06:30 Arrive at Shoreham College to register and load the coach
07:00 Depart from Shoreham College
09:15 Arrive at Dover DFDS ferry terminal
10:15 Depart from Dover
12:45 Arrive at Calais, disembark in coach, head to Ardres
13:30 Arrive at the activity centre in Ardres

Please note that a packed lunch will be required, as the first meal provided is in the evening.

Friday 29th May 2015 Return journey

11:30 Depart from the Ardres activity centre
12:30 Arrive at DFDS terminal, Calais
13:30 Depart from Calais
14:00 Arrive at Dover, disembark in coach, head back to Shoreham
16:30 Arrive back at Shoreham College

All times quoted are local times, i.e. times in France are an hour ahead.

I will be able to update this blog via smartphone during the journey if there are any alterations to the expected return time, so it would be a good idea to watch out for updates on the Friday.