Day 1
After an early morning coach journey, the Year 6 children arrived safely at Flatford Mill in Colchester. They started their three day stay with lunch in the fresh air and sunshine!
The sky was very clear during a night time walk. Children and staff were able to stargaze. They spotted satellites and constellations including Cassiopeia, Orion and The Great Bear. They also saw some planets including Jupiter and Mars.
Day 2
Day two started with a delicious breakfast. Children made their lunch for the day… an adventure awaits!
After breakfast, children and staff went to see if they had captured any creatures in the ‘critter catchers’ that they set up the night before. They had caught a mouse! The mouse was happily nibbling on apple.
Children played ‘Poohsticks’ from the classic stories of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh – quite fitting for World Book Day! ‘We didn’t realise we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun’.
Working in teams to build shelters out of branches was exhausting. Everyone got very wet while testing to see how waterproof the shelters were!
At the end of day two everyone gathered around the campfire to sing songs, tease riddles and toast marshmallows. It was the perfect way to celebrate the final evening.
Day 3
It is time to go home…but there is always time for a nature hunt before the coach journey back to school.
What the children say….
“Flatford Mill was an amazing experience! This residential trip has really helped me to learn lots of new things about nature… I would 100% go again since it was such a fun experience”
“We saw horses, goats, sheep and rabbits and I actually heard an owl… we caught a little mouse and we let it free into its habitat’
“My Flatford Mill experience was amazing! We saw different animals, including pheasants, great blue tits and a jay bird”
” We set ‘traps’ to catch small mammals such as voles, mice and common or pygmy shrews. Inside the traps we put hay, some seeds and apple….the next day we caught a small mouse!”
“My experience at Flatford Mill was wonderful! I enjoyed the campfire where we drank hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows.”
“Flatford Mill was the best experience. I learned not to be with technology. Flatford Mill is so natural and I enjoyed learning about trees, animals and local history”