Year 6 PGL 2025
Day 4 - Thursday 22nd May
Today's Menus:
The penultimate day began with some very bleary eyes and some very wide smiles with the football hangover. After a few high-fives and some gentle to-and-fro between rival fans, we set off on our way to another cooked breakfast. After the toaster fire last week and the subsequent internal investigation, we were finally allowed to have some mildly warmed bread, much to the delight of some of the adults.
Today was the day that, on paper, was looking like the most exciting: Survivor, Giant Swing, Archery, Zip Wire and the long-awaited trip to the shop. It didn't disappoint. The weather reflected the mood of the Tottenham fans and all was right in the PGL world again. Another birthday, this time for Finlay P, meant another set of candles, another song and, yes, another birthday cake. Much to the joy of both the birthday boy and girl this week, they enjoyed the luxury of a 'Birthday Badge' from PGL, which meant they skipped to the front of the lunch queue and also got to do every activity first, on their birthday - a lovely touch and a nice way to make them feel special.
Survivor was a new activity for everyone, this year (yes, we've all been singing the Destiny's Child song in our heads all day, too), but a brilliant one for teaching life skills. Children were required to build a shelter out of sticks, that should provide protection from the rain, before picking a yellow bag and a tarpaulin. The bag contained a rope, some pegs, a mallet and instructions. Naturally, the instructions were only referred to once the children had tied themselves in knots, rather than the rope. The task was to erect different types of shelter, tying the rope between two trees and folding the tarp over the top and knocking the pins into the ground to hold it in place. Once the instructions were referred to, the children made fairly light work of the task, even with many pegs looking more like bananas. Then came the most exciting part: whittling and fire. Most of the adults felt a natural fear when the whittling knife was handed out, but to give the children credit, they all took the safety very seriously and did a great job of feathering their twigs. Children were also taught how to start a fire using flint and steel, though by the end of it, many were complaining about the state of their thumbs and how difficult it actually is.
The Giant Swing was especially thrilling and was a favourite for many. This involves a group of three children being dangled quite uncomfortably from a harness and hoisted by their group up to 20 feet in the air, at which point, one of the trio pulled on a rope to send them hurtling towards the ground at terrific speed. The look on the children’s faces was priceless but they all stepped up for a second turn and the large majority went right to the top.
Archery was mentioned and the children were confident they knew what they were doing, after archery tag earlier in the week. The instructors were quick to point out the differences though and the point on the arrows quickly had the children in a quiver. There were some very high-quality archers in the group with a fair few living out the SATs reading text in real life and nailing that bullseye.
Finally, the children got to go on the zip wire. A lengthy beast, but everyone was eager to have a go. What was lovely was the PGL staff rearranged an activity so that the group that missed out due to Wednesday's storm were able to have a go, too. The best moment of the day (and possibly the whole trip) is when Cleavon climbed up and fearlessly threw himself out of the tower and down the zip line. All of the children were overjoyed at his bravery and cheers were heard all over the site, when news spread quickly to the other groups (quicker than the children starting the fire in Survivor, at least).
Just before dinner came the next highlight of the day when we got to visit Helga in the PGL shop and it was lovely to see the thought and care some of our kids put into choosing gifts. Food today was held in high esteem, as many were very complimentary of the burgers - please also brace yourselves to hear about the flavoured water at the 'Hydration Station,' as this has once again been the fascination of the trip.
After dinner, we had an hour to don our glad rags and dust off our dancing shoes in preparation for the big, last-day, 'silent' disco. The irony of this statement was not lost lost on those adults who were unlucky enough to not be given headphones themselves, though the quality of singing was much better than expected. The excitement was palpable as we climbed the stairs to no less than ‘The Liddington Suite’ where we were joined by 150 children from other primary schools visiting the centre. The tiredness was soon forgotten and they were as fresh as daisies as they danced and gambolled around the hall.
The bad news came at the end of the disco, when our leader, Sean, told us that we'd need to have our bags packed, bins emptied and beds stripped before we head to breakfast in the morning, at 7:35. Many children chortled at the prospect, until one bright spark questioned the time we'd need to wake up, at which point the dread set in when the time started with 6. Thankfully, this did instil a little sleep pressure and children were quick to sleep - the night was relatively calm.
School Journey this year, has been an amazing experience for everyone, including the teachers. There have been a few tears along the way but mostly, it’s been full of laughter, excitement and the joy of spending time with friends. The children have embraced each and every experience and of course, that has meant that they have extracted the maximum worth from their adventure. They have taken those first steps along the way to independence and making decisions for themselves. It’s sometimes sad for parents to see their children grow up and start to forge their own identity but it’s also a time to be proud of them and Whitings Hill parents can be very proud of their fantastic children and the character they have shown this week. They will take away some precious memories from their week at PGL but they have also given the adults many experiences to remember.
Finally, we cannot finish this post without recognising the amazing adults, who make this whole thing possible: Mrs Sherwood (nee Goldwater), Mrs Mogford, Mrs Kadir and Mrs Wilson. Their hard work, care and dedication meant that no child was left unfed, unwatered or unhappy. They wiped away tears (sometimes their own); administered medicine; treated bumps, bruises and cuts; lit birthday candles and cut cakes into 60 slices; supervised children so they could watch the final and made certain children were safe at all times. They did their utmost to be substitute parents this week and made sure the children felt loved and happy. We are all grateful to them for putting lives on hold and giving the children wonderful memories to cherish - it couldn't happen without them.
See you tomorrow!
Day 3 - Wednesday 21st May
Today's Menus:
Despite an early night on Tuesday, there was little chatting on Wednesday morning, as the children were obviously still catching up on the lost sleep from Monday night and the physical challenges from the day before. While we didn’t have to actually drag them out of bed, there were a few rooms where it took some repeat visits to get them up and dressed and ready to go to breakfast. After re-fuelling, we all really perked up and were ready for whatever the day was going to throw at us.
First though, we had to attend to the business of room inspections. Once again, the standard of tidiness in most rooms was commendable, though where some had dropped, it is fair to blame the short turnaround between breakfast and inspections. Today, though, some children really tried to show their appreciation to the judges, who really had to nit-pick to choose between them, by offering some snacks. While this may not have gained any room points, it definitely earned some brownie points.
Overnight, the clouds had gathered and the heavens had opened and, despite the first activity being problem solving, the light drizzle remained an unsolved problem. Thankfully, the rain wasn’t enough to stop the children from completing their abseiling activity, however it did slow down the process of putting on harnesses. Still, safety first and the children were happily on their way up the tower only to swiftly walk back down it again.
Lunch time brought sunshine and spirits were high as we all looked forward to trapeze; the added bonus of Ella’s birthday and birthday cake meant a sugar high doubled the excitement. However, as we were lining up and waiting for our leader, the ominous rumble of thunder sent shivers down a few spines and true to form, the classic British summer (lightning) struck again. A downpour not seen since biblical times ensued and the session had to be postponed, before being cancelled entirely. As if by magic, the sun reappeared and we were told that the penultimate activity would run, so some excited faces strode determinedly through the last bit of drizzle towards another activity. In the time it took to walk to the trapeze, the sun had dried the bar and children could happily take a leap of faith and hope to catch a bar suspended around 20 feet in the air. Children were doing the sensory trail, where they are blindfolded and led through the forest, and they are usually sprayed with a little water to heighten the senses, however about half way through the activity, an ominous rumble grew in the distance. Shortly after, the dreaded call came across the radio and activities were stopped once again. Some very dejected children then trudged back to their rooms, though secretly I think many were grateful for an unexpected break and a chance to chill out in rooms again (or perhaps play ‘ding-dong-ditch’ with the other rooms).
Dinner was devoured and the evening activity was brought forward by half an hour as there was, apparently, a football match that children wanted to watch. Tonight’s activity was called ‘Balloon Splash,’ where groups were given a water balloon and were challenged to make a protective covering, choosing from paper, bubble wrap and string, among other things, before it was thrown in the air. A couple of groups were successful with this and as a reward were able to throw their balloons at the group leader.
At 8, a little over half the children descended on a lecture theatre in order to watch the Europa League Final. There were many happy faces (and a few glum ones), but the game was watched in great spirit and everyone agreed that Tottenham were deserved winners.
After quite an emotional day, children were once again ready for bed and tonight bed time was rather easy (though that may have been helped by being able to stay up slightly later to watch the end of the game). The weather is looking a little better tomorrow and, with any luck, the children will have a full day of activities – the zip wire is the one that children have been looking forward to the most. That and the hotly-anticipated visit to the shop and the chance to see Helga, the shop keeper, once more.
Day 2 - Tuesday 20th May
Today's Menus:
After a fairly uneventful bedtime, the unexpected 2am alarm call emerged in the form of one room having a pillow fight. They were adamant that it was 6am and blamed the lack of clock for their error. The 7am wake up came as a rude awakening for a few, but bleary-eyed and full of beans (the children, not the breakfast plates), we all managed to get down to breakfast for the oddly-specific time of 7:37. This is probably more of a recognition of the fact that there are ~1000 children on site.
Having fully fuelled ourselves on a decent cooked breakfast (the hash browns were a very popular choice), we herded the children up and moved back to the rooms, where there was just enough time to tidy up and have the first room inspection of the trip. On the whole, the standard of rooms was very high (much better than last year) and most stood up to the exceptionally high standards of the teachers. With clipboard in hands, the teachers visited every room and gave them a mark out of 5 - it seems most children do understand how to keep a room tidy and fold clothes; we all wondered whether their own bedrooms would look so pristine? To the dismay of some, there were no offers of bribes to the inspectors - an admirable response from our year 6 cohort.
The day kicked off at 8:40 and the children were kept busy right through until 17:20, with a pitstop for lunch and dinner in between. For 3 groups, they started the day canoeing, while the other two had the hotly-anticipated 'archery tag.' The rest of the day was filled with the sensory trail and Jacob's Ladder.
Under gorgeous skies, the strangely-blue lake (it turns out it's treated to keep the algae away) glistened temptingly while the children stood listening to the canoeing briefing. Before we'd even sat on the water, there were questions of "Can we go in?" It was lovely that all three groups were on the same lake and we could all move around each other, though some found it difficult to keep their paddles in hand (this was possibly because they were too intent on splashing their teachers). At one point, Mrs Mogford was surrounded, so the gallant Mr Schmitz went to support her, only for it to be a maliciously planned ambush. The words "Treacherous retch" could be heard from the banks.
After a few soakings all around, and a handful of games played, the children climbed out of the water. A big shout out to Kyle and Niam, who managed to survive the whole session in the boat, until they tried to get out, at which point the boat duly tipped over and in they went. After the boat had been recovered, the children were invited to have a swim and, fair play to them all, they duly dived in. For reasons known only to Mr Schmitz, he also followed the crowd.
Archery Tag was something that was high on the agenda for many, but due to the volume of children taking part, the centre sadly didn't have enough equipment for everyone to take part. Despite this, children duly wore their safety equipment and fired arrows with giant, foam marshmallows on the end, at each other. Unfortunately, the event didn't live up to the hype for many of the children, but most will be grateful for the practise when we come to doing archery later in the week.
The Sensory Trail was a challenge to move as a group around an obstacle course, blindfolded and guided only by a rope and instructions from the person in front of you. Watching on from the side was very entertaining, especially when their imaginations ran wild and dangling ropes seemed like snakes and the brush of a leaf was a creepy crawly.
Jacob’s Ladder was the first climbing challenge. The children donned another harness and set off to climb a giant ‘ladder’ made up of wooden poles with the distance between the ‘rungs’ increasing, the higher they went. Some children climbed to the very top while others managed a rung or two. However, with the encouragement and support from their friends who were also handling the ropes that kept them safe, everyone went as far as they could and succeeded with their own personal challenge.
Dinner was a welcome event, where it felt like children hadn't eaten since breakfast, given the amount on plates. To give them their dues, they all finished the majority of what they took.
After dinner, the activity was a game show-style event, where children had challenges to complete, finished with a general knowledge quiz. Just as the mosquitos started to descend, time was called on the event and we all took ourselves back inside to get ready for bed.
The yawns began early and, despite the 'in bed at 21:30' rule, some had already given up the fight and climbed into bed by 21:00. The (very) early mornings caught up with a few and the large majority were asleep by 22:30.
We've had a beautiful day today - the warmth definitely helping to dry the wet clothes from canoeing - but tomorrow is looking a little more bleak. I'm sure a little rain won't dampen any excitement for the zip wire!
Day 1 - Monday 19th May
A hushed excitement filled the air as bags the size of small children flooded the Year 6 classrooms. Children were giddy with the prospect of spending a whole week with their friends, with little more than a coach journey separating them from a prospective ‘freedom.’ As we all duly filed out towards the bus, it became clear that the bus was (mercifully) bigger than we had been told and thankfully everyone’s baggage was safely stowed on board. Then, the driver shut the doors and we were off – not without removing a gavel and returning it safely to a parent (perhaps hammering home the point about behaviour this week?). The tedious trudge towards Liddington began in earnest, with the prospect of a stop to eat lunch in the sunny vistas of Reading Services. This was quickly put to the sword by a 45-minute delay due to an accident on the other side of the M25. Cue the incessant calls of: “How long 'til we get there?” and, “I’m staaarving!” Funny how quickly children’s metabolisms get the better of them 30 minutes into a coach journey. The first cries of: “Can we have a snack?” came at precisely 10:18 and were quickly rebuffed. Naturally, then, most of the coach was a chorus of rustling packets by 10:18:30. Slowly, the monotony of the M4 transitioned into a hive of greenery. After the rumours of being in south Wales subsided, the greatest cheer was at the appearance of the rolling hills of England – a mixture of stunned silence and appreciative awe. The audible “Wow!” was scattered across the coach as the sun baked the vivid-green grass.
A mere 2 hours after leaving school, we arrived in Liddington (the newest province of South Wales), to great applause, only to be held up further by an inconsiderate gate. We were hoping to get off the coach and get straight into rooms, but in the spirit of the day, we were made to wait, as they weren’t ready – while the children were raging at the idea of not knowing their rooms when they wanted, we chalked this experience up as character building. Lunch was taken in the cavernous hall, tantalisingly close to our corridor, before we were finally taken away to begin our first activities of orienteering, trapeze and crate challenge, where children had to build the tallest tower they could, while standing on them. In groups of three, the children were harnessed in and hoisted off the ground (shakily, in some cases), before beginning their rickety ascent. The tallest tower today was a whopping 12 crates high.
The biggest excitement of the day came in the form of a power outage. No one really knew what was going on – rumours aplenty – but the one that got the pallets watering most was that of pizza being shipped in at short notice. Alas, the children had to make do with fish fingers, veggie chow mein or chicken pasta, though they were quick to find last year’s hot-pick: flavoured water. After much consternation and a few too many trips to the dispenser, a hasty dinner was finished and we were hurried into our final activity of the night. Activities included using a Frisbee to knock off a can from a pole, as well as learning how to sit quietly for a few minutes.
Following a different theme of the day, children were rushed from one place to another, this time to their rooms for a shower and bed. The plan started as being in bed at 21:30, though the late dinner meant this was pushed back, but we were able to stick to the original plan of lights out at 22:00. The hardiest children were still going at 23:30 but that’s to be expected with the first day excitement. We’re all safe and well and looking forward to the lovely weather and enticing activities planned for the rest of the week.
