Condover Hall 2016: February 2016

Sunday 14 February 2016

Nearly Final Post!

Well, we survived our fantastic week away at Condover Hall. 54 children and 6 staff safely returned to Chad Vale on Friday, full of stories of bravery, endeavour, excitement and midnight snacks! The children were a credit to the school and families and as I said to the parents who I saw on Friday, were very well behaved, organised, independent and brave. We hope that they have returned with more confidence, some new skills and interests, all of the clothes they came with and with memories that will last a lifetime! It was a pleasure to spend the week with such a lovely team of children and staff and I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone who came and made the week what it was!

Thank-you to Mr Bowen for 'taking the reins' of the organisation of this trip (and writing all of the risk assessments!), thanks also to Miss Geobey, Mr Singh, Miss Green, Miss Haslam and Mrs Saini who led their groups, joined in with the activities and effectively were working 24/7 this week. Your dedication embodies the 'Chad Vale Way' and you have helped to make a big difference to all of the children's lives this week!

Thanks also to all the staff at Condover Hall; the children loved their week away and a lot of that is down to you. We were also very impressed with the quality and quantity of the food and friendly serving staff. A massive improvement on past years and the best 'residential food' I have had in 20 years of doing trips like this. Well done Condover!

Thanks to the parents who trusted in us to keep the children safe this week and who sent messages of support via the blog, Twitter or email. We're glad you enjoyed the blog and seeing the photos and hope that you'll give your children the opportunity to come to Manor Adventure next year or further afield when they get to secondary school!

The final photo gallery has just been published on the website (Day 5) with lots of great pictures of the Aerial Trek. I'll also create a final post (above) with quick links to the previous galleries so you can access them all easily from here. This blog will then join our archive of School Blogs on our website so you can access them in years to come!

Have a great half term everyone- I think we've earned it! :-)

Mr. Sansom

Thursday 11 February 2016

How to see old galleries that have disappeared from homepage!

We've published about 1500 photos this week- to see the older galleries please go to the website, click the 'Gallery and News' tab at the top, click 'Photo Gallery', then click the link to 'Archive Gallery' then scroll down to the bottom of the page!

D..I..S..C...O!!! And Day 4 Update

We have had an awesome final day at Condover! Kids all slept really well last night, have organised themselves really well, co-operated with each other and cheered each other on in some challenging activities- please see the photos on the website! We are now in the disco, busting some moves and having a great time! We'll be sad to pack up our things tomorrow and head home, but everyone is looking forward to their own beds and seeing their families again! Thanks to everyone who sent messages/comments/tweets; we've tried to pass on as many as possible! We're glad you liked the letters; hopefully you managed to read them ok! See you tomorrow at about 3.00pm- you may collect them slightly early from the bottom of the drive if you like, but please make sure that you sign them out with one of the teachers!

***Update- please make sure your main mobile phone contact is on and available in case we are stuck in traffic tomorrow!***

Wednesday 10 February 2016

Day 3 Update

Another exciting and successful day at Condover! All kids are good and having a great time and eating LOADS! We've worked out we're each walking about 12km a day (according to my Apple Watch) so they are definitely burning those calories. Lots of exciting activities today- please see the pics on the website. Mrs Saini went home today and Miss Haslam arrived, with Miss Crombie being the taxi service for both. Thanks for all your hard work Mrs Saini and the great pics from your iPad!

We've written letters home as part of evening entertainments and I'm about to publish them on the website; not sure how easy they are going to be to read, but we'll also give the originals back to the children to bring home. More updates tomorrow; we're looking forward to the disco tomorrow evening!

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Day 2 Update 2!

All in bed, lights off at 9.30am and everyone now soundly asleep! We've had some technical issues with uploading photos today but there should be 300+ to view in 2 galleries on the website. Please be patient- we have 54 kids and can't always get photos of every single child every day- we only have one decent camera and a few iPads but we are doing our best. All kids are fine and having a great time!

Thanks for the messages you have sent- we have been passing them on as we've received them. This blog has 'moderated comments' so I have to approve all comments before you can see them. You only need to send once, we are getting them! Maia was also very pleased to get her envelope that arrived at Condover today!

We'll arrange for some letters home tomorrow, via the miracles of technology...watch this space, although one child pre-empted this herself this evening and asked us to post the following!

Day 2 Update

The first night was 'ok'...all in bed by 9.30pm, no tears although one of the girls rooms got themselves up and in the showers at 5.00am, thinking it was 7am! We politely asked them to go back to sleep for 2 more hours! Breakfast was a choice of cereals, fruit, scrambled egg, beans and toast and pain au chocolat, which all the children enjoyed. There will be some breakfast photos on the website!

The first activities of the day have gone very well, some groups abseiling, laser zoning, fencing, buggy building and completing one of the first high ropes challenge of The Trapeze. We were very proud of some of the Y6 girls who conquered their Bockleton and Manor Adventure fear of heights and completed the abseiling for the first time! Well done!

We also celebrated Natasha's birthday after dinner this evening with singing and a cake...unfortunately we'd left the camera back at the dorms, but will take some photos of the room party they are planning for lights out.

We have some very tired children this evening, so here's hoping for a better night sleep all around; more tomorrow!

Monday 8 February 2016

Day 1 Update

After a safe journey in the rain we arrived safely at Condover Hall and quickly discovered our rooms and unpacked. We had a quick fire drill and tour of the site before starting our first activity- see the pictures on the school website from the variety of activities we tried today!

Dinner was served at 5.30pm and was a choice of burger and chips, sweet and sour chicken and noodles, a huge salad bar and cheesecake for dessert! The children all ate well and are currently sat in the evening activity called ‘Egg Protector’, where they have already invented their own stories about their eggs (that they will be protecting!) and presented these to the whole group. The are busy building boxes for their eggs as I type and are all working well together in their activity group teams!

We’re very pleased to announce some EXTREMELY tidy rooms already; the current winners...believe it or not...is one the boys rooms. Let’s see how that lasts!

All the children are happy and having a great time so far, so please don’t worry. We have very patchy coverage on mobiles (and lots of children!) so its unlikely we’ll be able to send regular tweets direct from the children, but we have a Plan B to get some messages home; keep an eye on the school website. If you tweet us, we’ll pass these messages on where we can. We aim to upload photos on the blog and a quick text update each night, so keep checking back for updates!

Enjoy your week of peace and quiet!

Friday 5 February 2016

Leaving Time/Monday arrangements

Children need to come to school at normal time and leave suitcases in the main entrance.

Please wear what you like on Monday for school, but you will need your Chad Vale jumper for the journey.

Please pack your spending money (lots of change please) safely in your case. You will be responsible for your money throughout the week. Try to set yourself a daily 'budget' so that you don't run out of money before the end of the week!

If parents indicated on the medical form that you are happy for Chad Vale staff to give paracetemol, ibuprofen or anti-histimine without calling home first, please pack this in your child's bag and label it with their name. These will all be collected on arrival at Condover.

If you require us to administer other prescribed or regular medication you will need to fill out a Medical Form on Monday morning.

The staff going on the trip are Mr. Sansom, Mr. Bowen, Mr Singh, Miss Geobey, Miss Green, Mrs. Saini/Miss Haslam (split).

If you have any urgent questions, please email me at headteacher@chadvale.bham.sch.uk. I will be checking emails over the weekend and throughout the week next week if you need any further information.

Children will have lunch at Chad Vale before we leave. Please send a packed lunch if you usually have one. School dinners will be provided as normal for school dinner children.

We will be leaving Chad Vale at approximately1.15pm on Monday. You are more than welcome to come and help with cases and wave them off!

We will be back before the end of school on Friday (between 3.00-3.30pm). We will issue updates via Twitter or Schoolcomms if we are running late.

Frequently Asked (and answered!) Questions!

Spending money?
Please bring no more than £10 in change! The shop on site sometimes does not have lots of change.

Toys/games?
You can bring a small toy/teddy/book. Please don't bring anything valuable (sentimental or financial!)

Can I bring a phone?
No!

Can I bring a handheld electronic game?
No!

How can I contact home?
We will be using Twitter to contact you and this blog for photos, news and videos. See the links on this page to get to Twitter!

How do my parents contact their children?

They don't! This is a week to build self-esteem, personal responsibility and bravery (for both parents and children!). Please keep in touch by tweeting us messages, Mr. Sansom will also pass on any emails sent to him (p.sansom@chadvale.bham.sch.uk), although we can't guarantee we'll have time to reply to them all. Please also check this blog everyday and the school website for lots of pictures!

What if I REALLY miss home?
We'll help you out and can arrange a phone call home from Condover if needed.

Will it be cold?
YES! It's February! Bring lots of layers/jumpers/waterproof coat.

Do I need wellies?
No!

Can I bring food/snacks
A few snacks is fine, although if you eat them in your rooms, they'll be confiscated (and eaten by the teachers). Please remember that we are a NUT FREE school.

Can I bring sweets and drinks for the journey?
Yes to the drink, no to the sweets

Do I need a drinks bottle?
Yes!

Is there a souvenir shop?
Yes.

What room/group am I in?

The children chose and know the rooms/groups they are in.

Can I bring deodorant and fragrance to keep me smelling nice?
Please do!

Do I need a duvet/sleeping bag and pillow?
No- everything for sleeping is provided. If you want to bring a pillow, that's fine.