Page 6 - Abberley Adventures - Dec 2021

ABBERLEY ADVENTURES 6
Boarding (continued...)
» Saturday 5th February – Castle Building Competition Sunday 6th February – HRH Queen Elizabeth II Royal Accession Day Celebration Lunch
Using just cardboard boxes and tape, the children will be given one hour to design and build the most impressive castle they can. These will then form the backdrop to our royal celebratory lunch on Sunday with a full British roast and patriotic music!
» Saturday 26th February – England vs Wales Themed Night Sunday 27th February – Football Zorbing
After watching the England vs Wales 6 Nations Rugby, we will have an evening of flag-making and home nations (friendly) competition. We then welcome a company in with Football Zorbing equipment to be used in the Sports Hall. This promises to be a really fun and exciting weekend for all!
» Saturday 5th March – Strictly Come Dancing Sunday 6th March – Spring Scavenger Hunt
A Saturday night fun activity in our very own Strictly Ballroom (Front Hall). Following some strictly-themed games, children will be given time to choreograph group dance routines for the final judgment! Sunday will feature a Spring Scavenger Hunt where the children will have to locate different items around the grounds.
» Saturday 18th March – Senior Production Performance Sunday 19th March – Easter Egg Hunt
After the Senior Production on Saturday night, we will have a lazy morning to recharge the batteries followed by a Chocolate Easter Egg Hunt around the school grounds.
As ever, our boarding weekends are open to everyone to take part in. Contact Mr Dunham for more details on toby.dunham@abberleyhall.co.uk
Sport
We had a quieter second half of term on the fixtures front. Due to the covid outbreak, we had a couple of weeks where we had to cancel fixtures and then we made the decision to take a third week off to let everyone get back to full fitness and check that we were over the worst of the outbreak before mixing with other schools. However, I am delighted that almost everyone had a final chance to represent the school during the final two weeks of term.
The U8 and U9 boys went to festivals at RGS and St Albans where Mr Smith and Mr Richardson were happy to watch the boys play with confidence and good teamwork. We were proud to watch the girls shine in some fantastic indoor hockey matches against The Downs. The older children in the school all braved the elements in some hugely successful matches against Packwood and the U11 girls fought well at a tournament at Warwick High School.
Mrs Bennett-Tomlin’s personal favourite sporting highlight of the term came in the final few days when we played some boys and girls mixed sports and where the children earned lots of show ups for their patrols. We always love watching the boys and girls play together - they learn so much from each other and push each other to really step up. It is brilliant to watch them think outside the box and step out of their comfort zones in a multitude of ways.
All in all, what a brilliant sporting term we’ve had! All of the coaches finished the term feeling excited about how much progress our children had made and are looking forward to seeing them again next term where the boys will concentrate on Football and Hockey and the girls on Netball. Thank you to parents for all of your support and we are looking forward to seeing you back on the touch lines in the New Year!
Outdoor education
A single oak tree can support 2,300 species of life when caterpillars, moths, bees, ants, bats, birds, lichen, mosses and small mammals are accounted for. There is deadwood to consider too with beetles and fungi. Amazing really. We have been spurred on at Abberley to create some future habitat for native wildlife and plan some exciting tree planting in March. The Woodland Trust have agreed to provide us with a wild-harvest double-row hedge around our veggie patch, to include hazel, blackthorn, crab apple, elder, dog rose and rowan. A working wood of silver birch, wild cherry and grey willow should provide fuel for a log burner in 7 – 10 years while hazel and oak are lined up to provide a copse of food and shelter.
Our wooded areas have themselves taken on a magical feel over the last few weeks. Leaves have fallen and vistas have opened up. Our sessions have coincided with the low sun burning through lingering mist and there has been a real sense of purpose. The groups have begun to fill up the log store. The morning after the night of Storm Arwen revealed several windfall branches which we have processed with bowsaws and enthusiasm. We dream of stacks of wood stretching from the floor to the ceiling, organised from the finest kindling to the mightiest of chunks. The firewood is not just about keeping warm; it is for cooking and preparing food. Wintery tartiflette, bread baked in cast-iron pans plus warming bevvies are all on the menu for next term.