A very busy day for the children with three different activities.
The day started at 6.00am for Olivia, Jordan, Nicole, Elise and Rebecca. The girls obviously needed two and a quarter hours to beautify themselves for breakfast. The boys rooms were silent until 7.00am when they got up to spend slightly less time on their beauty regime. Miss V had electrical problems with her hair straighteners - Mr Britten wisely decided against borrowing them.
Breakfast was a choice between a full English, bacon cob or croissant. There was also cornflakes, muesli and weetabix. All this was washed down with either tea or orange juice. It’s all very civilised in the dinning room at the moment. Being the only school here certainly has its benefits!
After breakfast we headed for Bempton Cliffs. http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/bemptoncliffs/index.aspx This is a RSPB nesting area for a variety of sea birds. The children were each given a pair of binoculars and a lesson in bird spotting. The group were being led by Andy and Hannah from the centre and split up to avoid scaring the bird-watchers who were there in force. Razorbills, Guillemots, Fulmars, Herring Gulls and Kitty-Wakes were easy to spot. Puffins were a bit harder to find as were every child’s favourite type of cormorant. Josh A and Harry found a Puffin on a cliff nearby and a kind Bill Oddie look-a-like let us look through his telescope which gave us a very good view of the Puffin. We then made our way to the ice-cream hut and filled up on some precious empty calories. Oliver B was the envy of some when he purchased the last Magnum although others were more interested in the reduced priced chocolate brownies.
The second part of the day took us to Flamborough Head. The tide was still in and it gave us the opportunity to have lunch. Ham, beef, tuna or mushroom pate with a packet of crisps, fruit and cake. This was followed by a game of Sand Eels and Puffins which involved a lot of running around. So far, the weather had been good, especially when the sun poked its head from behind the clouds.
The children have been studying coastal erosion at school and were given the opportunity to draw a field sketch of a land feature. During the sketch, we felt our first few spots of rain. It seemed like a short shower and waterproofs were soon being taken off again.
With the tide safely out, it was time to head down to the beach. It’s quite a climb down - it felt like about 180 steps and quite steep. The children knew what was coming next so happily skipped down all the way without any complaints. The next activity was ,very formally, called “Discovering coastal specimens in a coastal eco-system”. This can be described better as “Crab Hunting”. Who would catch the biggest crab? The children were warned about the dangerous “Red-Eyed Crab” that could be a bit nippy. Elise found a new talent and will be now known as “The Crab Whisperer”. By the end of the session, the children had found over 50 crabs of all varieties possible including the demonic red-eyed ones. No fear from Salterford children.
After the crab hunt, the children took a closer look at some arches and stacks. This was when the weather decided to take a nasty turn. The heavens opened and we got soaked. Climbing back up the steps in the rain, fog rolling in off the sea and a fog horn warning passing ships, was a rather disappointing end to the session and most looked like drowned rats by the time they time they reached the surface. Mr Britten, however, remained relatively dry thanks to his borrowed waterproof jacket. The jury is still out regarding this item of clothing. Jordan decided that a three quarter length purple coat was very fetching although Oliver P said it made him look like an old granny. Whether granny or super-model, he was still dry;)
Evening meal was vegetable soup, beef stew with Yorkshire pudding and blackcurrant cheesecake. This was enjoyed by all and set us up nicely for orienteering.
The final activity of the day took place at the local village green. Sam had returned and the children were spilt up into teams of three and given a map and a course to follow. All I can say is - Thanks goodness for Sat Navs! Map reading is obviously a dying art form. After the results were checked, the winning team was Harry, Rebecca and Oliver S. The other teams cried foul and demanded a drugs test! Oliver S protested it was only a hay fever treatment and was allowed to keep his gold medal.
The children returned to the centre for a hot chocolate and were in their rooms by 9.15pm. There were few complaints and the rooms were very quiet by 10.00pm
The weather forecast for tomorrow isn’t great. I feel the purple coat might be making a reappearance…
