Plas Pencelli 2025
Monday 29th September
Everyone has safely arrived at Pencelli and have had a brilliant day. Update will be on the website in the morning.
Here is Monday's update.......
We had a great journey to Wales and all the children were excited and in high spirits. Once we arrived, the first task was to make the beds (most of the children were great at this so thanks to the parents for doing some practice at home). It was great for the children to have a reminder of home on their beds. We then had lunch before heading out on our first activity which was an adventure walk around the grounds of Pencelli. We got very muddy and extremely wet which the children loved! We went down mud slides, through tunnels under the pathway and through tight gaps in the yew trees as well. We then enjoyed a dinner of buger, potato wedges, salad and profiteroles for pudding - which was delicious. Our evening activity was orienteering. The children absolutely loved this and got really stuck in and we have some stars in the making. The drying room is full already after getting so wet on our adventure walk!! We are tired now and in need of a good sleep ready for our activities tomorrow - Tuesday both groups are going caving.
Tuesday 30th September
We’ve had a great day made even better by the sun shining even though we were down in the caves for most of the day. Everyone woke up excited for the day ahead but a few apprehensive children as well. Both groups went caving. Everyone was very brave - there were some tighter gaps! We crawled through some very small spaces and some that contained freezing cold water which went above our waists, which the children loved. Both instructors were very impressed with all the children and their determination and resilience. All in all a very successful day.
Dinner was very popular tonight - pasta, meatballs and garlic bread followed by ‘old school’ Vienetta!
Tonight we did the scavenger hunt. We all had a fun evening as the chiidren were very enthusiastic. We had lots of creative ideas for the things that had to be collected - sadly many did not make the grade!! Needless to say, Year 6 need to learn what an oak leaf looks like and what soft and rough mean! We are hoping to sleep well and be raring to have another fun filled day tomorrow!
Wednesday 1st October
We have had another brilliant day today. The weather has been lovely and the sun has shone. Today's activity was climbing and abseiling and the children had a brilliant time and conquered many fears. There were some brilliant achievements and everyone showed perseverance and determination both climbing and abseiling.
Mrs Matthews and Mrs McDonald came to visit as well, arriving in time to see the groups come back from their climbing and hear all the enthusiasm and excitement and then we all enjoyed dinner together. It was chicken goujons and chips, followed by meringue, red fruits and cream! Very popular!
We then all got ready for the infamous Dingle Descent! Again, it was just brilliant to hear the teamwork and the encouragement of all the children - working together to walk down through the stream, in the dark, with just a few head torches! It always pushes Mrs Matthews and Mrs McDonald out of their comfort zones! We all came out very wet, with wellies full of water but had lots of laughs along the way.
Here's to a good night's sleep ahead of canoeing tomorrow. What a brilliant experience Y6 are having.
Thursday 2nd October
We have had a fantastic last full day at Pencelli. Again, the weather has been so kind to us. We had lots of fun with our canoeing and found out how important teamwork is! There were definitely a few wet children by the end but it was a great activity for everyone and a new experience for many. After another day in the fresh air and using up lots of energy, dinner was very welcome and went down extremely well.
This evening's activity has been packing cases ahead of needing to be out of our rooms early tomorrow morning. The children all then made it to the tuck shop where they enjoyed spending their money. All the children were then ready for a good night's sleep.
Tomorrow morning is an early start getting rooms cleaned and emptied and then a fun morning gorge walking. After lunch it will be time to get on the coach and return home to Swindon. We think that the coach ride home might be fairly quiet after such a brilliant and active week!
A HUGE thank you to Miss Kidd, Mrs Pascall and Mrs Young - without these wonderful adults accompanying the children, this amazing experience would just not be able to take place. Also, a BIG shout out to all the amazing staff at Pencelli who are just so brilliant with the children, so dedicated and so encouraging too.
