Alton Castle 2021
Wednesday 30th June
‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.’
Year 6 have had such an amazing Wednesday and the trip has only just begun!
Once we arrived at the castle and were greeted by the lovely team, we had a little discussion about discipleship and what it all means. This will be our theme throughout the residential. We also got to sing together, which has not happened in such a long time – it felt incredibly special. In different groups, we then had a bit of free time and played a few group games.
Once we had settled in our dormitories, we all sat together for a delicious meal of chilli and homemade sponge cake.
The Alton Castle team checked to see how well we had listened earlier in the afternoon by surprising us with a fire drill – that was loud! Luckily, we had all remembered which way to go.
We rounded off the day with a carousel of team building activities, which included: bucket ball and making our way round a trail blindfolded! Communication was key.
As the evening drew to a close, we joined together for prayer and reflection.
We thought about how we had found God today and offered up our prayer intentions.
It was a fun-filled afternoon and evening. We can’t wait to see what is in store for us tomorrow!
Day Two:
Today we enjoyed a variety of activities in the gorgeous weather God has blessed us with.
On our survival skills task, we talked about the importance of the flames in the fire. We agreed that the flame of our faith is ignited within us and it is up to us to keep the flame burning. Sometimes we can join with others in faith and that will only make our flames burn brighter.
Mr Hainie and Miss Kauser accompanied some children on a mountain bike ride. Everyone showed such resilience throughout, particularly when they had to make their way up a very steep hill!
Some children had a go at archery – good hand eye coordination was essential to hit the targets, which were quite a distance away at times.
Another group of children went on a circular walk around the local area. We had to make our way down a few tricky, bumpy paths at some points but, with a little help from friends, we made it down safely. We learned about the countryside code, a little bit of local history and spotted sheep, pigs and even alpacas!
The sun really shone in the afternoon so we were able to enjoy our lunch outdoors. We then spent some of our money on goodies at the tuck shop!
Mrs Wright and Mr Davis visited the castle today and attended our evening mass. It was a special moment for us all being able to pray together as a group and sing along to live music for the first time in such a while. It was quite atmospheric. A special thanks to our volunteers from Year 6 who read so beautifully and those that answered questions throughout.
Let’s see what our final day brings!