Come rain or shine

Our 11s pupils who travelled to Dorset to take part in Harrodian's annual Coastal Craft camping expedition certainly enjoyed an action-packed three days.  Inclement weather did not stop them from attacking activities and challenges with relish and enthusiastically embracing the opportunity to make new friends. 

The trip to the Wareham included bushcraft sessions in the surrounding woodland with children working in groups to make campfires and to build shelters which they then used to brave the frequent rain showers!


Also on the timetable - a historical tour of Swanage, line fishing from its pier, kayaking in a nearby lake and chasing each other around inflatable obstacles on a water park. The final night’s entertainment featured a Coastal Craft’s Got Talent competition with more than a dozen acts ranging from singing and dancing to stand up comedy and magic.

Ed Fenn-Smith,  leader of trip and 11s Head of Year, sees the Coastal Craft three day camping trip as an essential exercise for the year group, half of whom were new to the School in September.

‘It enables the children to get to know each other in unfamiliar surroundings and also frees them from the physical and social formality of the classroom.’ he says.

'Children do have the security of sharing tents with friends but throughout the day they all mix, talk and play with people they don’t know. The trip is a brilliant way of encouraging new friendships and bonding the group as a whole; it also helps to advocate a sense of independence and autonomous thinking, messages that we promote more strongly from the 11s onwards."