Outward Bound in Snowdonia

Last week a group of Year 9 students took a trip to Snowdonia National Park to the Outward Bounds centre. Despite Mother Nature not being kind to us with the rain and wind, the students were fantastic in facing all of the challenges head on.

On the first evening we went on a gorge walk in the dark with just the light of the moon, stars and a head torch to guide us. We warmed up with a hot chocolate in the evening which was a delicious treat for all! The following day we walked in to the National Park for a day of scrambling, rock climbing and abseiling. The views were outstanding and the heights that the students reached were impressive!

The following day was our expedition; an eight mile walk through the hills in challenging conditions! We faced the wind, fog, rain and mud head on and battled through to arrive at our log cabin in the evening. Here we went back to our roots and stayed the night with none of the modern day luxuries. Students purified their water, cooked food from bags, made a fire which we toasted marshmallows on and fought it out for the title of champion of cards (well done Jack Stevens and Benedict Pople-Hughes!). The next morning we woke up and set out for gorge scrambling. Despite the rain we got in our wet suits and walked waist deep in a full and fast paced river. This was followed by going down again - real life rapids and so much fun! 

Every single person on the trip was pushed out of their own personal comfort zone (teachers included!) and it was a privilege to see so many students overcome their fears. I learnt so much about the strength of character of many of these students and it was a joy to see the confidence that came from taking on new challenges. Thank you to all those involved!'