Bright Futures – Residential Trip to North Wales
This week a lucky group of year 9 students got to travel to North Wales as part of the Bright Futures programme. The member of staff accompanying the group wrote up this report:
Last week eight students from Duke’s took part in the Bright Futures Residential Trip to North Wales. After a long morning of travelling the students were quickly thrown straight into the deep end of outdoor activity – being guided in a gorge-scramble up a rushing river, navigating slippery rocks, jumping into rock pools and navigating through rushing waterfalls. Whilst there was some initial trepidation, all got thoroughly involved and I was pleased to see them bravely entering the chilly, as well as being helpful and caring towards their fellow (and newly encountered) students.
Our second day consisted of a number of outdoor activities; a long walk through the mountains, canoeing races, wild swimming and orienteering in the evening. Exhausting! What I was most pleased to see was how friendly our students were to their peers from the other Aldridge schools. We had students from Brighton, Manchester and London. The outdoor activities and mealtimes were a great opportunity for everyone to mix and get to know each other and learn about each other’s cultures. Some of the Duke’s students informed me that they’ve exchanged contact details with those from other schools and intend to stay in touch.
Before heading back to London on the last day, the students all took part in climbing activities and zip wiring. It was no surprise that everyone fell into a deep sleep on the train back to London. I really feel like the whole experience was memorable for all and that everyone has learnt new skills, especially how to be more independent. Overall, I was very proud of how everyone acted and got involved in everything, they definitely made Duke’s school proud in North Wales!
We can’t thank the Bright Futures team and the Aldridge Foundation enough for their amazing organisation and help over the three days.