Sunday 18 March 2012
Condover Hall Video 2- now on CVTV
Visit http://chadvaletelevision.blogspot.com to see Vid 2...it includes Abseiling, Bin Bag Fashion, Fencing and Rocket Launch!
Tuesday 13 March 2012
Saturday 10 March 2012
D5 Last Post...Thank-you! :-)
We'd like to say a BIG THANK-YOU to all the children who went to Condover Hall- you were a pleasure to spend the week with and it's been great to see you grow in confidence and independence throughout the week. Everyone gave the activities 100%, even when they were scary and we're sure that you have made memories that will last a lifetime.
We'd like to say a BIG THANK-YOU to all the Condover Hall staff who made our stay comfortable, exciting and, in the words of one of the children on return to school 'EPIC'! We'd particularly like to thank our group instructors: Tony, Mario, Emily and Stu who looked after us so well throughout the week!
I'd like to to say a BIG THANK-YOU to all the staff who volunteered their time to allow this trip to happen: Mrs. Saini, Miss Grosvenor, Miss Geobey and Mr. Clark...you were fantastic and enjoyed the week as much as the children, even though you were working 24 hours a day!
Finally, a BIG THANK-YOU to the many parents who came to us on Friday to thank us for looking after their children throughout the week. A weekend of washing, exciting stories and sleeping lies ahead for all of us!
Bring on Bockleton 2012 for Y3/4 children...coming soon!
We'd like to say a BIG THANK-YOU to all the Condover Hall staff who made our stay comfortable, exciting and, in the words of one of the children on return to school 'EPIC'! We'd particularly like to thank our group instructors: Tony, Mario, Emily and Stu who looked after us so well throughout the week!
I'd like to to say a BIG THANK-YOU to all the staff who volunteered their time to allow this trip to happen: Mrs. Saini, Miss Grosvenor, Miss Geobey and Mr. Clark...you were fantastic and enjoyed the week as much as the children, even though you were working 24 hours a day!
Finally, a BIG THANK-YOU to the many parents who came to us on Friday to thank us for looking after their children throughout the week. A weekend of washing, exciting stories and sleeping lies ahead for all of us!
Bring on Bockleton 2012 for Y3/4 children...coming soon!
Condover 2012 Videos
As in previous years we have been filming lots of the activities in high def video. These videos will take a few weeks to edit and publish, and will be posted on the Chad Vale Television Blog: http://chadvaletelevision.blogspot.com.
We'll tweet and blog here when they are available!
We'll tweet and blog here when they are available!
Condover Hall 360 Panorama- takes a while to load!
Not the greatest, but you get the idea- 1st attempt at using this app on the iPhone!
Room Inspection Winners 2012
Well done to the boys who won the Room Inspection Competition this year- they did a great job at keeping their room tidy and clean. Here they are with their JCA lanyards and key chain carabiner prizes!
D5 Report
A great final day at Condover with groups finishing off their final activities; Wet and Wacky, Tunnelling and Trapeze (see photo galleries soon!) We needed to be out of the accomodation by 10pm, so many children had started packing the night before, and all did a great job of this, helped by the fact that many people had labelled all items. We ended up with a completely empty lost property bag, which is a first. Thank-you!
Our final meal was a packed lunch, although we ate in the dining room, of sandwiches, crisps, bottled water and an apple and we departed Condover at about 12.45pm. After an hour (no vomit!) journey we arrived back at Chad Vale just in time for Golden Time!
Our final meal was a packed lunch, although we ate in the dining room, of sandwiches, crisps, bottled water and an apple and we departed Condover at about 12.45pm. After an hour (no vomit!) journey we arrived back at Chad Vale just in time for Golden Time!
D4 Mini Galleries now live
D4 mini galleries along the right hand side suitable for iPad/iPhone users now available!
Thursday 8 March 2012
D4 Final Message
I'm having technical issues publishing the D4 'mini galleries' on the right hand side for iPad/iPhone users- sorry. Will try again tomorrow.
I'm also having technical issues with my eyes, so bid all our followers a good night!
I'm also having technical issues with my eyes, so bid all our followers a good night!
Day 4 Short Report...very tired- sorry!
Very tired this evening so a short report- please see the D4 photo galleries to see what we've been up to today!
Headlines;
Trapeze a Great Success
Miss Grosvenor and Miss Geobey end up getting thrown into the swimming pool...fully clothed.
Everyone is fine
Silent Discos are the Way Forward!!!
Miles and Jaden won the Room Inspection Competition (and earned the privilege of lights off at 11.30pm...however (as planned) they were fast asleep by about 10.10pm! ;-)
Final day tomorrow- Wet and Wacky (in the swimming pool) Wonder if any more teachers will get wet?
Headlines;
Trapeze a Great Success
Miss Grosvenor and Miss Geobey end up getting thrown into the swimming pool...fully clothed.
Everyone is fine
Silent Discos are the Way Forward!!!
Miles and Jaden won the Room Inspection Competition (and earned the privilege of lights off at 11.30pm...however (as planned) they were fast asleep by about 10.10pm! ;-)
Final day tomorrow- Wet and Wacky (in the swimming pool) Wonder if any more teachers will get wet?
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Condover 2012 D3 Update
A good night sleep and breakfast of croissants/pain au chocolat and egg/beans option set us up for another day of exciting activities. As you can see from the photo galleries, we've done lots today- the best activity being TRAPEZE! Everyone climbed to the top, and most managed to stand up on the top of the tower (very scary) and then jump off to grab the trapeze, hanging approximately a metre and a half away, 15 metres off the ground! Quite a few caught the trapeze, did a 'pull up', then were lowered back to earth slowly by the instructor! Some dropped from a seated position from the top platform and all were very proud of conquering their fears...(inc Mr. Sansom!)
The weather over the last few days has been very kind to us, although rather changeable. We've been taking coats on and off as the sun comes out, and then disappears again and the rain/hail showers have been few and far between.
,
All the children and teachers are fine, although a bit tired and few sore throats (from all the shouting!) and we are looking forward to the disco tomorrow! One final photo gallery to follow this evening, of the evening Cludo activity, where the instructors all dressed up and kept us entertained! The evening activity finished a bit later than usual so we've not had time to send many tweets, however if you have sent a tweet, it has been passed onto the children, who have all been very pleased you've been in touch! Thank-you for all your messages. (I've tried to re-tweet many of the messages so that you can see them on our twitter feed...we've had some connectivity issues today, so if you can't see your message, don't worry, I think we've passed them all on but you might not have seen it on our feed).
It's now 11pm and all the boys are fast asleep. Most girls are now sleeping...apart from one room...you may have identified a pattern here.
Good night to all our followers from Condover Hall...more updates tomorrow!
Mr. S :-)
The weather over the last few days has been very kind to us, although rather changeable. We've been taking coats on and off as the sun comes out, and then disappears again and the rain/hail showers have been few and far between.
,
All the children and teachers are fine, although a bit tired and few sore throats (from all the shouting!) and we are looking forward to the disco tomorrow! One final photo gallery to follow this evening, of the evening Cludo activity, where the instructors all dressed up and kept us entertained! The evening activity finished a bit later than usual so we've not had time to send many tweets, however if you have sent a tweet, it has been passed onto the children, who have all been very pleased you've been in touch! Thank-you for all your messages. (I've tried to re-tweet many of the messages so that you can see them on our twitter feed...we've had some connectivity issues today, so if you can't see your message, don't worry, I think we've passed them all on but you might not have seen it on our feed).
It's now 11pm and all the boys are fast asleep. Most girls are now sleeping...apart from one room...you may have identified a pattern here.
Good night to all our followers from Condover Hall...more updates tomorrow!
Mr. S :-)
Tuesday 6 March 2012
Final Night 2 Update
It's 11pm at Condover and after some dorm time where some 'midnight feasting', 'Fashion Shows' and 'Nail Bars' were organised by the children everyone is now in bed!
Children are happy but tired and we're predicting a much better night sleep this evening. All the boys are snoring...it's just one of the girl's rooms still awake (funnily enough, the same room as last night- we won't mention any names!)
We've asked for the heating to be turned down in the rooms, as many are complaining that they are hot in the night. We've had to suggest to some of the boys that they may find it cooler if they actually change for bed, rather than attempting to go to sleep in the clothes they wore today... ;-) As usual, the girls floor is a heady cocktail of shampoo, perfume, potions and lotions. The boys floor...isn't.
Good night from all at Condover- please check the Twitter feed- some children have sent messages this evening. Remember you can also email me on deputyhead@chadvale.bham.sch.uk but it's unlikely we'll have time to send any replies (other than tweets!) Sorry!
More updates/photos tomorrow!
Children are happy but tired and we're predicting a much better night sleep this evening. All the boys are snoring...it's just one of the girl's rooms still awake (funnily enough, the same room as last night- we won't mention any names!)
We've asked for the heating to be turned down in the rooms, as many are complaining that they are hot in the night. We've had to suggest to some of the boys that they may find it cooler if they actually change for bed, rather than attempting to go to sleep in the clothes they wore today... ;-) As usual, the girls floor is a heady cocktail of shampoo, perfume, potions and lotions. The boys floor...isn't.
Good night from all at Condover- please check the Twitter feed- some children have sent messages this evening. Remember you can also email me on deputyhead@chadvale.bham.sch.uk but it's unlikely we'll have time to send any replies (other than tweets!) Sorry!
More updates/photos tomorrow!
Day 2 News
After a not too bad waking up time of approx 6.30am all were ready to go and we had a lovely cooked breakfast, cereals and fruit. Groups have then done 5 activities throughout the day, including fencing, laser maze, abseiling, climbing, rocket launch and everyone is currently creating the next big thing in fashion...using bin bags! Looking forward to seeing the photos!
Lunch today was curly fries, pork escalope and salad, evening meal was chicken or beef curry, with rice and a chocolate eclair for pudding. Most children have 'discovered' the tuck shop earlier today and some weren't overly hungry for their meals. We're sure that once the novelty factor dies down (and they run out of money!) their appetites will return. Children cannot live on sweets and crisps alone. Can they?!
We've taken lots of photos which will be uploaded this evening, and we've had a first attempt at creating a video on the iPad 'in the field'. We'll try uploading that shortly. If you don't spot your child in the videos or photos, don't worry, they are all fine- we are trying hard to capture everyone on film as the week progresses!
Thanks for all your twitter messages- we haven't had a chance to get replies sorted yet but will try to do this evening! Watch your feed for updates! Mr Haselgrove also visited today and was impressed with the facilities and site.
Lights off tonight at 9.30pm, and some children are looking very tired, so we're hoping for an even better night this evening. If you've spotted your child looking cold outside we have been REPEATEDLY reminding/telling them to wear lots of warm clothes and TAKE their jackets out of their rooms with them to activities. It has fallen on deaf (cold) ears today for some. We expect that they will be better prepared tomorrow.
Lunch today was curly fries, pork escalope and salad, evening meal was chicken or beef curry, with rice and a chocolate eclair for pudding. Most children have 'discovered' the tuck shop earlier today and some weren't overly hungry for their meals. We're sure that once the novelty factor dies down (and they run out of money!) their appetites will return. Children cannot live on sweets and crisps alone. Can they?!
We've taken lots of photos which will be uploaded this evening, and we've had a first attempt at creating a video on the iPad 'in the field'. We'll try uploading that shortly. If you don't spot your child in the videos or photos, don't worry, they are all fine- we are trying hard to capture everyone on film as the week progresses!
Thanks for all your twitter messages- we haven't had a chance to get replies sorted yet but will try to do this evening! Watch your feed for updates! Mr Haselgrove also visited today and was impressed with the facilities and site.
Lights off tonight at 9.30pm, and some children are looking very tired, so we're hoping for an even better night this evening. If you've spotted your child looking cold outside we have been REPEATEDLY reminding/telling them to wear lots of warm clothes and TAKE their jackets out of their rooms with them to activities. It has fallen on deaf (cold) ears today for some. We expect that they will be better prepared tomorrow.
There is a way...
I seem to have found a work-around for the iPad/iPhone display issue... See the small versions of slideshows on right hand side? Click on them and they should link you to larger photos that can be viewed on iDevices! :-)
Night night!
Well...all rooms are snoring away now (apart from one of the girls rooms!) so we're off to bed. Here's hoping for a peaceful night with no knocks at the door! ;-)
Photo Slideshows require Flash! Sorry Apple users...
Please note that the photo slideshows that I'm publishing require Flash to view, so you can't view them on the iPad or iPhone. Sorry!
Monday 5 March 2012
Twitter Messages
Thank you for the tweets of support/messages to children. We will aim to deliver them this evening or tomorrow and hopefully get them to slow down enough to reply!
Some technical issues re photos
Hi- am having some technical issues with Google's servers rejecting some images- I hope you can see the 2 slideshows I've just uploaded. More tomorrow. Now...time for lights out I think! Wish us luck!
Day 1 Report
Coach journey was great- no travel sickness at all! :-) It took about an hour to get here with no hold ups. We met our instructors, who will be with our groups for the week and played some silly games on the grass to get to know each other. We then went to our first activity- one group was climbing, one group abseiling, one group lazer maze and one group fencing!
Mr. Sansom went with the climbing and abseiling group, so the photos to follow are of these 2 groups. Everyone did really well, some got to the top of the climbing wall and most abseiled down! For those scared of heights even getting to the top of the tower was a triumph...
Dinner was roast chicken, sweet and sour pork, halal chicken sausages, or veg stir fry with pasta or rice, lots of salad and apple crumble for dessert. Very nice!
The children are enjoying a camp fire whilst the teachers have been to the teacher's briefing meeting (and Mr. S has 'snuck out' to write this blog and publish the photos!). We're expecting some smoky children to return shortly and will be suggesting they all try out the showers tonight!
First impressions of Condover are extremely positive- seems extremely well organised, beautiful building, very enthusiastic staff and high quality activities. More tomorrow...enjoy your evening of peace!
Mr. S!
Mr. Sansom went with the climbing and abseiling group, so the photos to follow are of these 2 groups. Everyone did really well, some got to the top of the climbing wall and most abseiled down! For those scared of heights even getting to the top of the tower was a triumph...
Dinner was roast chicken, sweet and sour pork, halal chicken sausages, or veg stir fry with pasta or rice, lots of salad and apple crumble for dessert. Very nice!
The children are enjoying a camp fire whilst the teachers have been to the teacher's briefing meeting (and Mr. S has 'snuck out' to write this blog and publish the photos!). We're expecting some smoky children to return shortly and will be suggesting they all try out the showers tonight!
First impressions of Condover are extremely positive- seems extremely well organised, beautiful building, very enthusiastic staff and high quality activities. More tomorrow...enjoy your evening of peace!
Mr. S!
We have arrived!
We have arrived safely...meeting our instructors and having a tour of the site in a minute...
Sent from my iPhone
Sunday 4 March 2012
Tuesday 28 February 2012
No Lip Balm= sore lips! :-(
Please make sure you pack lip balm/chap stick. Children always suffer from sore lips from being outside during residential trips. Sorry, I forgot to put it on your packing list!
More information!
One of the most important Elizabethan houses in the Midlands, Condover Hall provides a stunning and versatile venue with a huge range of modern, exciting facilities to deliver a 1st class venue for learning outside the classroom.
The Hall has recently undergone a multi million pound refurbishment programme to turn it into an amazingly equipped residential activity centre. Boasting activities from archery and abseiling to a laser maze and dance studio, the Hall has the ability to both encourage physical activities and deliver cross-curricular learning opportunities. Children can even have a session testing their Harry Potter skills in the themed spell room! Sports teams and events can be brilliantly hosted using the all weather sports pitches, indoor sports hall and swimming pool, and the Hall is now offering specific Netball coaching and match weekends.
The Hall has recently undergone a multi million pound refurbishment programme to turn it into an amazingly equipped residential activity centre. Boasting activities from archery and abseiling to a laser maze and dance studio, the Hall has the ability to both encourage physical activities and deliver cross-curricular learning opportunities. Children can even have a session testing their Harry Potter skills in the themed spell room! Sports teams and events can be brilliantly hosted using the all weather sports pitches, indoor sports hall and swimming pool, and the Hall is now offering specific Netball coaching and match weekends.
Monday 27 February 2012
Activity List
Here is the list of activities that we are doing throughout the week:
Abseil
Camp fire
Lazer Maze/Grid of Stones
Fencing
Rocket Launch
Climbing wall
Archery
Bivi Build
Cludeo
Tunnelling
Buggy Build
Trapeeze
Orienteering
Mini Olympics
Wet and Wacky
Abseil
Camp fire
Lazer Maze/Grid of Stones
Fencing
Rocket Launch
Climbing wall
Archery
Bivi Build
Cludeo
Tunnelling
Buggy Build
Trapeeze
Orienteering
Mini Olympics
Wet and Wacky
Final Letter to parents 27/02/2012
Dear Parents/carers,
The children and teachers are getting very excited about the forthcoming Condover Hall trip, which leaves next Monday. Enclosed with this letter is the insurance policy that covers the trip. Please read the information carefully and if you wish to arrange any additional cover please do so as soon as possible!
Enclosed is a further packing list and tick-sheet that you may wish to put in your child’s case. Please do label/mark every item of clothing with your child’s name or initials- this speeds up the final day packing considerably and has reduced the amount of lost property that we return to school with. Please note that all bedding is provided but your child will need to supply towels and toiletries.
On Monday 5th March we will leave at approximately 12.30pm after an early lunch here at Chad Vale. If you want to wave us off, please meet us at the bottom of the drive. If your child has any regular medication that you need us to administer, you will need to fill out an additional form, available from me on Monday morning. If you have signed agreement for the administration of paracetemol/ibuprofen/anti-histimine please provide this in your child’s case; we will collect it on arrival and keep it safe for the duration of the trip. We return to Chad Vale on Friday 9th March at approximately 3pm.
The tuck shop at Condover Hall will be open at set times during the day, so if you are providing your child with spending money, we suggest that it is in a clearly labelled wallet or purse, packed inside the case. Please note that your child will be responsible for their own money throughout the week and we suggest that they ‘budget’ for a daily spending allowance of £2.00- £3.00.
The children and teachers are getting very excited about the forthcoming Condover Hall trip, which leaves next Monday. Enclosed with this letter is the insurance policy that covers the trip. Please read the information carefully and if you wish to arrange any additional cover please do so as soon as possible!
Enclosed is a further packing list and tick-sheet that you may wish to put in your child’s case. Please do label/mark every item of clothing with your child’s name or initials- this speeds up the final day packing considerably and has reduced the amount of lost property that we return to school with. Please note that all bedding is provided but your child will need to supply towels and toiletries.
On Monday 5th March we will leave at approximately 12.30pm after an early lunch here at Chad Vale. If you want to wave us off, please meet us at the bottom of the drive. If your child has any regular medication that you need us to administer, you will need to fill out an additional form, available from me on Monday morning. If you have signed agreement for the administration of paracetemol/ibuprofen/anti-histimine please provide this in your child’s case; we will collect it on arrival and keep it safe for the duration of the trip. We return to Chad Vale on Friday 9th March at approximately 3pm.
The tuck shop at Condover Hall will be open at set times during the day, so if you are providing your child with spending money, we suggest that it is in a clearly labelled wallet or purse, packed inside the case. Please note that your child will be responsible for their own money throughout the week and we suggest that they ‘budget’ for a daily spending allowance of £2.00- £3.00.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)