Our Senior School had a brilliant first trips day of the year, including the annual Year 7 PGL pilgrimage.  

Year 7: PGL Trip 

It is a tradition for our new Year 7s to head on a three-day residential to PGL to get to know each other and to bond together as a year group. This year was no exception, with students enjoying a programme of exciting activities including raft building, giant paddle boarding, climbing and opportunities to try new experiences such as campfire and archery.  

Year 8: Go Ape 

Miss Brooks led Year 8 in their daring tree-top challenge – the Junior Adventure - to build on collaborative engagement and team development skills. Students participated in a series of fun team-building activities as well as the exciting tree-top Junior Challenge.  

Year 9: Outdoor Activity Day at Blackland Farm 

Our Year 9 students enjoyed a fun - if somewhat muddy - outdoor activity day at the beautiful Blackland Farm in Sussex. The day featured a combination of rope work and team-building challenges, enabling students to work together as a unit with their group, develop their problem-solving skills and build resilience. Lots of thrills, fun and adventure! 

Year 10: Clue Quest Escape Rooms 

Year 10 students needed all their problem-solving, resilience and teamwork skills as they tackled this unique and challenging Escape Room in a friendly competitive atmosphere against other Year 10 groups.  

Year 11: Thorpe Park 

Year 11 students headed to Thorpe Park, allowing students to enjoy each other’s company and to fill their final GCSE year with great memories and exhilarating experiences.  

Year 12: The Challenge Carousel, Team Building 
 
This half term trips day for Year 12 had our students testing their team building, communication and collaboration skills in a series of activities that helped to strengthen their existing bonds and friendships as they embark on the new challenging journey into Sixth Form. 

Alina in Year 12 explains: “To start our day, we were split into three teams and undertook a variety of team building activities that tested different skills throughout the day. One of the challenges was designed to put our communication skills to the test – to complete the challenge, we had to stand on planks and all move our feet at the same time to get to the end. Another involved having to figure out a strategy to retrieve a rubber duck from the bottom of a pipe, transporting water to the pipe from one location to another using a bucket suspended on a rope which we all had to hold so that we didn’t lose any water en route. All four teams used different strategies to move the bucket of water - some proved more successful than others and was very fun to watch! 

Our last activity was a wooden block tower challenge, which sounded easy but when each wooden block is suspended from 10 ropes that have to be held taut by all team members in order to move them, it proved much more demanding than we thought initially. But failure is all part of learning, so we certainly learnt a lot as our tower was only four blocks high! 

Whilst we all knew each other beforehand, the day highlighted how well we could work together when we collaborate , communicate and use our different skills, in addition it proved to be a highly rewarding day that we could share together as a year group. 

Written by Alina, Year 12 

Year 13: Personal Statement and Interview Workshop 

The Personal Statement and Interview Workshop is an excellent way to engage and support Year 13 students with their university applications, with the opportunity to develop interview skills and engage with elements of university life. Lots of interesting, probing conversations were had, with productive action plans for upcoming applications.