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From Monday 22nd to Wednesday 24th January 2007 thirty eight students and five staff went to Bowles Outdoor Centre, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The PE trip was part of the Year 11 Sports Coaching and Year 10 Junior Sports Leaders Award qualifications. The trip was also open to Year 9 pupils who had worked well in Physical Education throughout the academic year so far.

The coach departed the Campus at 9:30am and arrived at Bowles just before 11am, after some excellent manoeuvres by the coach driver, down some tricky country lanes. First job was to get all the bags off the coach and up one of the biggest and steepest hills in Kent. Students were placed in their groups and given their rooms, so that they could change and get used to their new surroundings for the next three days.

Bowles is situated just outside the town of Tunbridge Wells and is set in the countryside, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of Chafford Hundred. At first it took a while for the pupils to get used to their new environment and the running procedures of the dinning hall; however by the end of the first day they were soon mopping down their tables, serving food and sweeping the floors after they were fed and watered.

The students took part in a variety of activities, in the morning, afternoon and evening. These included: Orienteering, High and low ropes, skiing, raft building, swimming, rock climbing, abseiling and problem solving. Most of the activities involved; team work, communication, organisation, planning and leadership skills, which is what is required when teaching or coaching others in sport.

The pupils worked extremely hard is some testing conditions, as it rained all day long on the Monday so everyone got soaking wet. It was freezing cold on the Tuesday, with everyone wrapping up warm with lots of layers of clothes, hats, scarves and gloves. Finally it snowed on the Wednesday, with everyone very eager to get out of bed and have a massive snowball fight, which was great fun. Mr Brewer and Mr Jerden seemed to get the worst of it whilst walking from their rooms down to breakfast, as virtually the whole group bombarded them with an unrelentless amount of snowballs, whilst Miss Du Toit and Mrs White seemed to get off scott free.

Although the weather was not the best in the World, all pupils are to be congratulated as they were always positive, showed high standards of behaviour, acted in a responsible way, showed maturing, gave one hundred percent in all the activities they undertook and were a credit to themselves, their families and the Campus.

Each member of staff has nominated one pupils from each group to be voted pupils of the week and here are the results:

Group A Mr Jerden – Tom Page
Group B Mr Brewer – Connor Thomas
Group C Mrs White – Andrew Curtis/Robert Sullivan
Group D Miss Du Toit – James Nunn

Funniest moments: Mr Anderson still refusing to wear trousers (crazy man), Mr Brewer nearly taken out by Joe Turner on the ski slope, Gavin Jeffries taking out Joe Turner on the Ski Slope, Jade Reed moaning that her hair was getting untidy all the time, Jakke Kerridge scared, James Thompson’s “cant be bothered” catchphrase, Mr Brewer and Mr Jerden pounded by snowballs, Miss Du Toit in the red wet suit, the students poor accuracy when aiming snowballs at Miss Du Toit and Mrs White, Callie Claxton believing that she had to mop the floor on her hands and knees after breakfast, lunch and dinner and finally Jade West “she seeked her here, she seeked her there and she always managed to find her”

By the end of the three days it was fantastic to see so many pupils shine, whilst growing in confidence, self esteem, self fulfilment, conquering their fears and having a real sense of achievement. Hopefully these positive experiences will help many of our students grow and develop as people and personalities. Finally a massive thank you to Mr Brewer, Mr Anderson, Miss Du Toit and Mrs White, who accompanied students on the trip. Let’s hope that the leadership trip will be able to run again next year with lots of new faces to enjoy the excellent facilities and services available.

Mr Jerden