On a sunny morning in June, an excited Year 4 team gathered at Burghley House to set off for a day of adventure and activities followed by a night of blissful sleep! (Hmmm!) The following blog post has been created by the Year 4 Campers!
The Walk from Burghley by Harry, Eleanor, Sophia and Sebbie
We arrived at Burghley and got into our tribes. We had a challenge to get in register order. We walked to the top of the hill and took a picture. Then we set off… Mr Campbell pointed out lots of the different plant species. Safely, we crossed busy roads and a train track! We saw lots of interesting plants and we were having fun chatting and walking the dogs. The dogs got hot and thirsty so they needed a drink just like us! We saw the river that led to school so we knew that we were close. The river is the River Welland. Next, we went through a gate and crossed the road we went over the bridge and saw Mr Teesdale waiting for us. Next, we saw the bridge by Copthill very close so we ran there. Finally, we crossed the bridge and we were back at school. We were so relieved! Do you think you could walk that far?
Art in the Woods by Owen, Freddie, Sofia and Isabella.
On Friday, we all enjoyed making tribe flags for the bunting in the woods to represent our tribes. It was cool and shady in there because it was such a hot day.
Freddie exclaimed, “I really enjoyed drawing frogs on my mini flag!”
Owen said, “I drew a dinosaur!”
The next thing we did was paint a huge mural that represented our tribe, onto a big sheet. We used acrylic paint and it got a bit messy! We also used felt tip pens and Sharpies to create our designs. It got a bit crazy! It ended up looking like a collection of all the small flags and it was hung up on display in the woods. Everybody really enjoyed it!
Tent Building by Matilda, Sophie, Monty and William
First, we sorted out who we were sharing a tent with. Next, we collected our tents, mallet and pegs and then with the mallet we hammered the pegs in. If you had a teepee tent, you would put your pole in the middle of your tent, if you had a pop-up tent all you had to do is take the elastic band off and it would pop up. After that, we looped the guide ropes around the pegs until they were as tight as they could be. We then went inside and unpacked our bags, set out our roll mats and placed our sleeping bags on top and then we organised our belongings.
River rafts by Seyda, Charlie, Woody and Wilf
A funny moment was when Mr Teesdale had to shoo away the swans and they were hissing at us because they wanted to protect their baby swans, it was SO CUTE, and then they gracefully glided away on the water. we made small rafts so we didn’t get to ride them (except for Lyra) so we just saw if they floated. SUPER SCIENCE! It was really fun! We all liked it so much and were so sad when we had to get out, and it was so chilly walking back up to camp. We all wanted to stay in for the whole camp over:)
Wilf said, “I wish we could go further down the river.” We all agreed.
Charlie and Seyda claimed, “Our favourite part of the camp over was the river out of the whole camp over!”
Food by Mahdi, Hugo, Luca and Lucas
We all brought our own favourite packed lunch for the day. Hugo had a cheese sandwich. Luca’s favourite bit was the cookies he packed! Madhi had pasta and Lucas had a baguette. This was not like our usual school lunch! We missed chippy Friday!
The dinner was delicious, we were definitely hungry after a busy day especially because it was spaghetti bolognese. Mr Teesdale, Miss Needham and Mr Ralph served us. We washed our own dishes afterwards.
“Dinner was tasty!” said Lucas.
The teachers did not know but a few people snuck some sugary snacks into the tents. It was a secret midnight snack!
When we woke for breakfast the next day we had toast cooked on the open fire with lots of toppings available, cereal and juice. Mr Teesdale burnt quite a lot of the toast but we loved it! One piece even disintegrated!
Team Building Games
by Amber, Libby, Matilda, Noah and Aurion
The first game was the Toxic Swamp game where we had to use ropes to haul a bucket of freshwater from the Toxic Swamp. It was mind-puzzling, really mind-puzzling but it was possible. You had to curve the ropes around the bucket and then walk around the swamp until it hooked under the rim. Then, you had to carefully pull it towards the person who had the least rope. Then, hopefully, you would have completed it. We did it! What a team!
The second game was when you had blindfolds on and a long rope to hold on to. We had to get into a certain shape then you’d take them off and see if you had that shape. Next, you had to make a line with your team in birthday order. It was fun! Some people had to guide others to make the shape. It was all about good communication and trust. All of the games were on the fort field in different places the blindfold one was in front of the minefield game all of the guides were trying really hard it was really fun but it was also hard because some people didn’t move and some didn’t listen but overall it was a really fun game to play.
The third game was called Minefield and you had to find a path through the minefield. If you stepped on the wrong square, you would get soaked by a water gun. It was great fun (and quite cooling in the hot weather) but you had to remember the path otherwise you would get a water blast again. Eventually, you would complete it but it took a while. We needed to use our memory skills! Would you be able to survive the Minefield?
Free Time
by Emilia, Xav, Lyra and Thomas
Our free time was one of the best parts of our campover because we were allowed to do exactly as we pleased – within reason! It was also great because our teachers were not telling us what we should be doing!
During our free time, we did lots of playing with our friends. Here are a few of the things we enjoyed doing.
“I played in the dam and dug out clay to make pottery. I made a small and big pot.” Lyra
“I played football and I scored a penalty and then I scored a free kick and we won.” Xav
‘’I played with Henry, Owen and Freddie to guard the fort hill!” Thomas
“We played in our tents and we performed ‘Six don’t lose your head’ with Amber.“ Emilia
Tribe’s Got Talent
by Ophelia, Lexi, Bailey, Henry and Ruben
After dinner, we were told that we would be performing in Tribe’s Got Talent. Tribe’s Got Talent was where we got together in our tribes and prepared an act to perform for
- Ophelia : ‘’It was nice getting to look at all the acts and it was all about having fun at the same time!”
- Henry : ’’I really think that everybody gave it their all, good job everyone!’’
- Ruben : “My favourite bit was the front flips in the talent show.’’
- Bailey : ’’I think that everyone tried their best and did amazingly.’’
- Lexi : “I liked taking part.’’
The prize for the winning tribe was that they got to stay up ten minutes later than the others around the campfire. The acts included dancing, comedy and a bit of acrobatics as well. There were 4 tribes competing and the winning tribe was Tribe 3.
Tribe 1 did a dance and a bit of acrobatics and comedy, Tribe 2 did a dance to ‘Waka waka’, Tribe 3 (the winning tribe) did an acrobatic routine with some parkour and lastly, tribe 4 did a dance act combined with comedy!
Tribe’s Got Talent was a great ending to an amazing day!
Overnight Campover
By Wynnie, Charlotte, Ayush and Finn
It was a very crazy, cold night. After the whole of Year 4 brushed their teeth together, we went into our tents and tried to whisper quietly – some people were more successful at this than others! Tribe 3 got to stay up later as they had won ‘Tribe’s Got Talent’.
Everyone was shining their torches in their tents. Some boys seemed to be having parties in their tents and when Mr Teesdale did his patrol of the camp, he had to remind them of the rules! The toilet saw a lot of action too! Because it was so hot during the day, when it cooled down at night time, we had so much condensation on our tents that it was as if it had rained heavily! Apparently, lots of children had no sleep whilst others had roughly 3 hours. Some were still asleep when we went for breakfast! Even though it was a tiring experience, it was a night we will never forget!
The Morning After the Night Before
by Oliver, William, Jingjing and India
The morning after Friday, the day we did all those amazing activities, we woke up with the sunrise around 4 am! It was really bright and everyone was sticking their heads out of their tent, crazy as ever despite the lack of sleep! Mr Teesdale came over and told us all to get back in our tents and relax and talk quietly as some were still asleep. Meanwhile, in one tent, three people put sleeping bags over their heads and looked like giant worms!
A few hours later, the teachers came round and asked us to get dressed and start packing our belongings. Breakfast was toast with whatever we wanted to spread on top. It was ‘expertly’ toasted on the fire and we also had cereal and juice. One person still hadn’t woken up so everyone started singing ’Celebration’ to wake her up. It worked (eventually). Then the teachers asked us to clear out our tents and put our bags next to the fence near the car park where our parents would be picking us up.
William.S said, “I’m still so tired,” as he yawned loudly.
The reason for this was that everybody had been talking SO MUCH the night before! Soon, our parents arrived to collect us. A lot of people probably had a three-hour nap as soon as they got home and finally, the campover had come to an end and everyone could relax in the comfort of their own bed.
The Final Word
by Mrs Hawkins and Mrs Morris
What a campover! A brilliant time was had by all full of fun and smiles. The Year 4 children were true Copthillians. Upon our return to school on Monday, there were still some tired faces! We got back together in our tribe groups to reflect on who we all thought had been outstanding problem solvers, creative thinkers, responsible citizens, team players, independent explorers and reflective learners.
Finally, a King and Queen of the tribes were voted for. Congratulations to Oliver Tanner and Sophia Nisbet! All of the children were simply the best – lots of great memories were made!
A huge thank you to Mr Teesdale for his fantastic organisation, tent shushing and expert toast-making skills. Mr Ralph for helping us with the activities and sleeping over in the freezing cold yurt! Miss Needham for staying all day to help at the river activities and Mr Campbell for leading the walk. Thank you to Mrs Evitts got back from the early morning walk to meet the swimming bus. Thank you to Mrs Teesdale for coming along at sunrise to help the children and serve up the breakfast for the hungry campers! A true team effort!