Danbury 2022

On Wednesday 18th May, 126 Year 5 children arrived at school with a mass of suitcases and were full of excitement ready for their 3 day residential at Danbury. The day started with a few fun activities in their classes before the coaches arrived and were loaded up ready for the short 30minute journey up to Danbury. Once we arrived, the children were sorted into their tents and then gathered together for lunch before their first of two activities.

Some children found their way around the caving simulator, some concurred the knee wobbling heights of the aerial trekking and some learnt the art of building shelters and lighting fires in bush craft. After the children tucked into a very tasty dinner, they had some time to sort out their tents and play on the field. The evening was taken up by a night hike around the site, where the children walked through open fields and into the woods, followed by a cup of hot chocolate and a biscuit. After the hike, the children and some of the staff were ready for their beds. The children all settled into their tents full of excitement for the next day’s activities and eventually the camp was quiet – after the thunderstorm!

Thursday morning, the camp woke nice and early! After breakfast, the children were greeted by their instructors for four more thrilling activities. Some children learned how to navigate using a map in orienteering where as others worked on their team work skills on the obstacle course and low ropes. The children then refuelled with a hearty lunch before two more activities to round up their day. Here, children zoomed along the zip wire while others were tested on the wobbly leap of faith concurring their fears. The children then had yet another tasty dinner before some free time to play on the field. As the evening drew in, we gathered around the campfire for a sing song and a few stories before settling down for the night. With all the children warn out, the camp fell silent very quickly on Thursday night.

On Friday morning, the camp slowly woke and after breakfast the children had two more activities: some of the children concurred the climbing walls and vertical obstacle course, with others trying to score the highest score at archery. The children had one last meal before getting their bags loaded back onto the coaches and heading back to school – rather tired!

Over the three days they spent at Danbury, all 126 children showed great determination, acceptance of adventure and great improvement with team work throughout all the activities they took part in. All the staff were extremely proud to see the children thrive in the outdoors, tackle their fears and thrive to improve on every attempt, especially on the high activities. It was also encouraging to see the children build friendships amongst their peers.