After we went for lunch, fish fingers or a choice of rolls. We then walked it all off as we strolled along the beach looking for different types of sea shells to classify.

Having finished our long walk we headed to the centre for playtime and house activities. Each house has to learn a song for Stubbington's  's' factor.

Dinner tonight was chicken nuggets and chocolate doughnuts...Yummy! We are now all listening to a nature talk all about the different types of wildlife at Stubbington. We can't wait to visit the hides later this week. Some of us are already yawning and asking how long until bed.

More tomorrow...Fingers crossed for a great nights sleep for everyone.

 

A great morning so far and the children have all been fed and watered. Wow they definitely enjoyed the toast and cooked breakfasts. First room inspection was conducted this morning - a range of 9/20 to 15/20! A challenge for some  to improve. 15 Marks are available for tidiness and 5 for going to sleep and not giggling too much.

Shelter building has left some of them a little soggy after their shelters weren't quite as waterproof as they had first thought! Miss Smy's pond dipping group has found water boatmen, a stickleback and lots of different vegetation. Chain gangs have worked impressively well as a team to move across the field - although Mr Barry definitely needs more practise.

This afternoon we have been conservationists...searching for animal footprints, scatt (animal poo) and for snuffle holes. We have even built animal hotels to see if we can entice a mouse or two, in the hope of seeing them close up tomorrow.

Although overcast it has been pretty good weather so far.  That's a relief.

What an great evening we have all had. First we had a great talk from a visitor who gave us a 'slide' show of all the photos he had taken over the past 4 decades. We all loved the final one of him with a meal worm in his mouth and a robin fluttering in front of him literally mouth to mouth playing tug of war with the meal worm!

Tonight two of the groups went down to the hide to see if there was any wildlife. Wow we were truly stunned! We saw 7 foxes including  a cub and 4 badgers.  They were all delighted. Hopefully the rest of us will get to experience the wildlife tomorrow.

Now all tucked up in bed and so far its all very quiet...ssssshhh!

Wednesday - 11th October

A peaceful night with lots of sleep! Currently (07:45) a few still asleep, some playing quiet card games and others busy brushing  hair in the multiple 'salons'. 

We were very excited to find 4 long-tailed field mice. We learnt that they have tails which are 2 Cm's longer than their bodies. These give them the ability to balance and to hang off things. Did you know that a field-mouse can jump 13 times its body weight?

We have written estate agent particulars for a mouse house and the children's descriptive writing from their recent Gravenhunger book really stood them in great stead.

Currently tuck shop is open and postcards and sweets are being bought.

We are looking forward to the afternoons activities.

This afternoon was the first of 3 earthquakes at Stubbington... Equipment had to be taken out to rescue people and relied on the use of teamwork - one of the 3 Stubbington values. The next 2 are scheduled for tremors tomorrow. The children have been out in all weather today and have made the most of every opportunity available.

Whilst this was going on more shelter building was occurring as well as orienteering around the grounds. Mr Lucas has led great sessions on beak adaptation and even dissected owl pellets. The children were totally enthralled.

Tonight the children went hunting for pirates who had stolen the treasure chest. The staff got totally immersed in dressing up and hiding. What a great time the children had hunting them down.

We are now off in search of foxes and badgers again. Fingers crossed.

Whohoo...more badgers and foxes seen tonight. Now all tucked up in bed and fast asleep - well done year 5 and 6!

May we say sorry for the delay in photos being uploaded for all groups - we have been struggling with the internet and many images are not able to be formatted due to size and because of technical difficulties, whilst we are away. We will endeavour to upload a few pictures daily per group. Thank you for bearing with us on this. The written blog will continue to be updated daily though. We hope it is providing you with a few snippets of our activities. Please rest assured that we are all having a great time. 

More tomorrow.

Thursday - 12th October - Happy Birthday Katie!

A good night's sleep and lots of sleepy faces this morning, must be the fresh sea air. We have awoken to bright sunshine;  a relief after the drizzle and downpour variation we had yesterday. The children are now very good at selecting the appropriate clothing for their activities without reminders, well done year 5 and 6!

Room inspections are going very well and everyone is becoming proficient at bed making, tidying and getting organised.

Lots of activities already on the go this morning: Group A are orienteering with our visitor for the day - Mr May, Group B are experiencing a sudden Earthquake and Group C are investigating the numerous ponds.

We are all looking forward to the Stubbington 'S' factor tonight where our houses  - Owls, Badgers, Kestrels and Foxes will pit their wits against each other in a sing off.

What a super day for weather. We have all had great fun and enjoyed ourselves in the playground, on the field, and during the activities. One pair even managed to pond dip with a resit of 6 stickleback fish.

Now going for last practise before tonight.

Entertainment abounded tonight and children and staff alike were in hysterics at Mr Scarborough's and Foxey's conversations. We truly laughed until our sides ached.

We can't believe it is now only 1 sleep to go before we come home. See you tomorrow.

Friday 13th - October

A good night's sleep had and the children are now stripping their beds and sorting out their things so that the rooms are ready for the final inspection of the week.

Won't be long until the last cooked breakfast of the week - how will the children and staff cope without one each day!

Today was a game of foxes versus farmers. A fun running and avoidance (for some) activity of not being stamped by a farmer who did not enjoy having their chicken house decimated by local foxes.

Oh what fun we ALL had.

Congratulations must be extended to Owl house for winning the house award for the week - helped somewhat by their phenomenal performance in The 'S' Factor last night.

Now it is all over and may I just say a huge thank you to all the Stubbington Study Centre staff for being such great hosts and in organising a fun packed week.  Thanks must also go to all the school staff, especially to Mr Lucas and the office staff for planning and organising the trip.

So that's all for now folks!