Taking the plunge

With more than a few technical hitches around photos and downloading on a multitude of devices, our blog has fallen by the wayside. Well, here's to overcoming those hitches! It's been a great term of Outdoor Education so far with one of our strongest cohorts of pupils through all age groups. It bodes well for some brilliant trips ahead. It was clear from our very first session of the year, when all eigteen of our Games pupils took the plunge in to Loch Lomond on a wild, windy day.

I hope you enjoy the photos.

Dream Team 2018, including our fab instructors, Iain and Brian

Testing the water. It was very windy, but the loch has had a whole summer of solar heating

Marcus demonstrates a beautifully executed somersault

Assia shows true diving style 

Elliot, Kenneth and Emma go for synchronicity

Zainab goes for it - brave girl

Elliot, Kenneth, Jack and Marcus take turns on a technically tough route at Auchinstary Quarry

Imogen tests the friction of the rock on a smooth slab

  Enza sings her way up The Prow!

Local youth show us how it's done. Did I mention, I LOVE frogs!

It was alright, if you like that kind of thing...

This weekend I had the pleasure of going away for a slice of Outdoor Education with three S5 pupils. It was spectacular. With such perfect conditions forecast, it was impossible not to match it with ambition. We were certainly adventurous, with the group tackling activities that were brand new to them in challenging environments.

Aisha setting sail in her sea kayak, loaded up with supplies for an overnight trip in the Arisaig area

Robert and Aisha show off their balancing skills

We land on our perfect desert (!) island, along with a few million midges and a couple of ticks that we became acquainted with

Sigh

Setting up camp

Room with a view

The Isle of Rum in the distance, just a long paddle away

I often think that sunsets are overrated in photos, but here I am, subjecting you to more!

Our other beach

After a very leisurely breakfast we're off again

Glassy seas

Robert looking very at home

Fayz and the team powering along

Whoop, whoop!

And now for something completely different...We made it just in time for catching the ferry from Mallaig over to Skye, collecting fresh water en route

The team atop their first (and for Aisha, her second) Munro, Sgurr na Banachdich

With the weight of their rucksacks and the afternoon heat upon them this really was an impressive feat

Our bivvy site for the night!

The sunset and sunrise were stunning again and not so far apart. With a full moon too I could have read a book by the light. My first sunrise photo was at 1.57am

The team in their bivvy quarters!

Fayz on his first rock climbing experience up a mountain, taking it all in his stride

Aisha loving her surroundings

Once again, the team did extraordinarily well. The Inaccessible Pinnacle forms huge fin of rock atop another Munro, Sgurr Dearg, and is the most technical of the Munros. Not bad for your second Munro!

Fayz descending

Robert descending

Ahem

A rather happy, if sleepy, team

After a brief leap in to a river, we're off

It's a hat trick: The (mostly) P6 adventure to Clairinsh

Well it's official: we have a hat trick of three Outdoor Education weekends in a row, each with a less than perfect weather forecast that turned in to an idyllic, sun-drenched weekend of adventure! The weather was one thing, but these weekends wouldn't work without the lovely support of staff: thank you Mrs David and Mr McDouall, who were particularly good at sea kayaking this year! Thanks also to the amazing help from Ms Alex Mennie who zipped over from a busy schedule in St Andrews, and Scott Duffield who jetted over from studying in Belfast - what a lucky lot we are. The pupils did brilliantly this weekend - canoeing, putting up their own tents, choosing what to cook and how to cook it and then mastering all sorts of bonfire skills, never mind their new found skills of canoeing, rafting and various methods of leaping out of and sometimes back in to canoes!


I think the photos speak for themselves...