Ardres 2016: Thank you and good night

Safely back and all children delivered to their parents.

True to the forecast, the weather was not on our side this week and it was really dull, cool and frequently wet.  In fact, we have never before had a trip when the clouds have remained really thick and the sun has never been in any danger of peeking through, with the temperature remaining in the mid teens Celsius throughout.  Also, as luck would have it, the stock of wetsuits at the centre had been cleared out awaiting replacements.

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare  -  but it wasn't, for several reasons.  Firstly, and most importantly, the children we took with us this year were absolutely brilliant.  They cheerfully got stuck in to all the activities presented with hardly a grumble and they were prepared to have a go even at watersports when the conditions did not look at all inviting.  Once wrapped in their wind-proof jackets and buoyancy aids (which are very good insulation), they cheered up and always came back from the activity with big smiles and positive feedback.  Secondly, the Acorn staff this year were the best I have encountered.  They adjusted the activity programme several times to accommodate the weather conditions and even invented a big competitive circuit of team challenges on Thursday afternoon which took a huge amount of organisation and dedication on their part to get right and which they absolutely nailed; all the children really enjoyed it and it kept them gainfully occupied all afternoon. Thirdly, my brave colleagues Mr Batstone, Mrs Mardon and Ms Morgan remained positive throughout and persevered no matter what challenges were thrown at them.

I'm hoping, therefore, that your children have been telling you that they actually had a lot of fun and did plenty of good things.  They were certainly very good company and I thoroughly enjoyed borrowing them for a few days.  Plenty of good memories will be with us all for a very long time.

I have, incidentally, reserved the same again for the same time next year and, if I can persuade some hardy colleagues to join me, will hopefully be launching the trip in the second half of the Michaelmas term.  Let's hope for somewhat more clement weather.

Unfortunately I had a few technical issues when trying to upload photos to the blog this year which I wasn't able to sort out (partly because I had so much else to do).  I've been sorting through the photos and expect to be able to upload an album tomorrow.

I'm sure I won't be the only one going for a really early night this evening ...