A week of stretch, challenge and fun across the Senior School
Big Skies Week dawned on Monday morning this week with Eaton Grove bedecked in tricolour bunting as the Lower 4 Chateau de Norwich High experience got under way. The immersive language days saw all of Lower 4 enjoy French bread making, outdoor games, escape room exercises and more French fun , under the supervision of six wonderful alumnae who kindly gave their time and language expertise to come back and work alongside the MFL department who had skilfully masterminded the days to re-create, as far as possible, the Normandy Chateau experience which could not take place this year. The French fluency of the alumnae was an inspiration for our girls. Upper 3s and sixth form took to the streets of Norwich separately; the annual Starstrucks Geography trip formed a useful introduction to urban fieldwork and the sixth form enjoyed a treasure hunt and geo-cache exercise across the city. Upper 4 remained in school for the latest Inspiring Females: Be Yourself day, with yet more alumnae giving their time to join the list of external speakers on the day. We hope the Lower 5 gained a valuable insight into life in our Sixth Form and some of the many subjects on offer during their day of taster lessons and a sixth form introduction” from Mrs Packer and her sixth form team.
The woodland-themed art workshop for Upper 3 on Tuesday has produced some beautiful and quite intricate pieces for mobiles planned for an installation as part of our art Exhibition at the Forum in October. Upper 4 required strength and steady nerves at Highball climbing centre, with the “Games Cafe” as an antidote to this back in school. The array of delicious cakes and cookies baked the night before was impressive too! It has been a physical week for them, with a fun day of bushcraft skills at Whitwell Hall outdoor activity and, for most, two days of Duke of Edinburgh Bronze expeditions to end their week. Mr Greenwood’s three day Model United Nations event with Lower 5 had the global issue of Child Labour as the topic to be debated and girls rose admirably to the tasks of researching and investigating their allocated country’s current line on Child Labour. Some fierce and well informed debating on the final day brought the motion to a successful close. After a day of excellent work and assessment related advice from Karen Kimura of GDST, the sixth form enjoyed a session of Forest skills and a full day of cycling in Thetford forest, followed by Army Elite skills training on Thursday morning, with some balance offered by a day of mindfulness art and a mindfulness walk across the UEA grounds to end the week. Both Upper 3 and Lower 4 completed, on separate days, a plastic and litter pick-up which covered covered the entire stretch of beach from Scratby to Sea Palling. The sense of achievement in the girls was clear to see as the sizeable mountain of waste was brought back to school where we will dispose of it safely. Both days proved excellent opportunities for girls and staff to be outside, doing good in the community and enjoying each other’s company in a different environment.
Friday brought the much anticipated Big Dig on Dingly Dell where the Lower 4 put their own archaeology tools to good use, these having been crafted earlier in the week under the expert guidance of the Project Design department. The 40 digging pits offered a rare window into possible previous use of this unusual open space in the school grounds and we look forward to hearing more once the findings have been collated and catalogued. Also eagerly anticipated was the Lower 5 Adventure day at Thetford Forest; after the rigours of research and debating in the week, the girls were able to test their nerves in a variety of fun activities.
Big Skies lived up to expectations and fulfilled our aims; we feel sure that every girl in the Senior School enjoyed and fully embraced the opportunity to be outside for some of the week; to try new things, approach problems from a different angle and to work in small teams to achieve an end result. Well done all and a big thank you to the ground staff (digging 40 turfs!) the catering team for keeping those lunches coming despite the disruption to normal operations, the caretaking staff for setting up rooms and halls for each event and, of course, to the teaching staff for the energy and drive to lead and assist with each day.
Owain Hall, Assistant Head (Enrichment)
