With the help of the PTA and Year Four, we held another very successful cake sale in aid of Macmillan Cancer Care. Cakes started to arrive on Wednesday – all different shapes, sizes and colour. Parents had been very busy and thanks to their generosity and hard work we raised a record breaking £408.50 for a very good cause.
Well done to everyone who took part in this fantastic event. It was SERIOUSLY tasty!!
Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School was delighted to welcome girls and boys from nine local primary schools to take part in a Rugby Tag Tournament to promote the game in the local area on Monday 28th September.
Each school brought a team of 10 players from their Year 6s and the boys and girls played in 4 groups of 4 teams. After the exciting qualifying games Great Crosby RC Primary School took on a Farnborough Road Junior School team in the Plate Final with Merchant Taylors’ taking on Runnymede in the Cup Final. Both finals were exciting to watch and brilliantly played with all the teams having enjoyed a lovely afternoon of rugby.
Merchant Taylors’ rugby continues to thrive under the guidance of Mr Dan King, Head of Rugby, who commented “last season the school played 120 games of rugby with more than 200 pupils taking part. The aim of our festival is to get more children involved in the game. Merchant Taylors’ has excellent links with Waterloo Rugby Club who have a thriving junior section. I hope that the tournament will become an annual event!”
Merchant Taylors’ helped to develop former pupil Ben Kay, the retired England lock. As a small child Ben started playing Mini Rugby for Waterloo Under 9’s and progressed through the School’s teams before joining the Leicester Tigers just before the 1999 World Cup. Ben was rewarded with his first England cap against Canada in 2001 and in 2003 he appeared in his first Grand Slam at the 6 Nations and contributed to England’s first ever Test victory on Australian soil and an away victory against the mighty All Blacks! Ben can now be heard commenting on this year’s World Cup for BT Sport.
Our newest extra-curricular group has just sprung into action. The Junior Reporters are a group of willing writers who have agreed to write articles of interest for the website.
This week the boys were issued with some rather smart reporters’ notebooks, pencil and pen. They promptly went onto the computers to start writing their ‘copy’. Some of their work will be published on this website very soon so keep an eye out for it.
The Junior Reporters will meet up each Wednesday lunchtime and they will pool their resources to produce some quality articles. The older boys are very good at helping the younger ones and I am sure that they will all get a lot out of the club.
Mr Wardle.
Well done to the boys who attend MTJBS Drama Club. They achieved some excellent results in their recent LAMDA examinations.
Ben J – GRADE 2 DUO ACTING: Distinction
Charlie J – GRADE 2 DUO ACTING: Distinction
Akshayan S – GRADE 2 COMBINED: Distinction
Joseph C – GRADE 2 COMBINED: Merit
William G – GRADE 2 DUO ACTING: Merit
Thomas C – GRADE 2 DUO ACTING: Merit
Bradley B – GRADE 2 COMBINED: Merit
Alex G – GRADE 2 COMBINED: Merit
Henry P – GRADE 1 DUO ACTING: Pass
On this page you should be able to catch up on what the Year 6 boys are up to in the Lake District from Monday 14th to Wednesday 16th September.
Photographs should also appear here too – you may need an extra bit of software if you are trying to view a slideshow on an iPad or Android device but it should work fine on a Windows PC.
Mr Lyon, Mr Youngson and Mrs Mellor will be sending their reports back to Crosby and I (Mr Wardle) will be popping them on here.
Newlands is such a fabulous place – the boys will have such a great time. We hope you enjoy reading all about their antics. (The latest stories will appear nearer the top of the page so it is easier for you to see the latest news. )
If you would like to email comments to the staff at up at Newlands you can do so by using the email address below. Please note that it isn’t possible to reply to each email received but they will be read.
Report by Y6W
The boys are all back in school but they are SOOOO tired; there’s not much work being produced today! There are loads of stories being told of the Tarzan Swing, The Washing Machine and, oddly enough, samosas (I don’t think it is wise to ask about that one!).
The boys all arrived back on time, singing ‘Let it Go’ from Frozen as they approached school – they are an odd bunch. All were picked up on time and went off home for a long bath and a hot meal.
Comments about the trip from Y6W
Paul L – The ghyll was freezing – but the Washing Machine was the coldest thing EVER.
Thomas C – Our room was haunted by Stalky Bear!! (???!!!)
Harry G – The zip wires and the woods activities were amazing.
Omar A – The best activity for me was the Tarzan Swing – it was phenomenal!
Adam C – I LOVED the High Ropes – that was my favourite activity.
Jacob M – Activities = FUN
Matthew H – The woods were great, although I got a rope burn on my neck – it doesn’t hurt though!
Ishan P – Canoeing was really tiring and really cold when we jumped in the lake – but it was such fun.
Jack – The whole trip was impeccable – I’d love to be able to go again!
They are on their way! They expect to be back at school by 4:00PM, traffic permitting.
*****Please be aware that you will not be able to park in the school car park as the gate is locked for safety reasons between 3:40PM and 4:10.*****
I’ve just had a phone call from Mr Lyon, gushing praises about your boys! It seems that they have tidied rooms, stripped beds and packed their things brilliantly! Unbelievable!
The boys have just toddled off on their last activities (hasn’t the time flown by?) and they will be back, wet and happy, in time for lunch.
The Newlands Gang are hoping to leave Newlands between 1:00 – 1:30PM and expect to be back at school by 4:00PM, traffic permitting. Any delays? I’ll let you know here.
Parking is not permitted on the school site (the gates are locked for safety reasons) so please park in nearby roads – and PLEASE don’t park on the double yellow lines outside of school as the coach needs somewhere to park.
The internet is back up and working at Newlands so Mr Lyon has sent through the following about last night’s hotly anticipated Best (and Worst) PJ Contest. Read on…
Winnert of best PJ s= Ted
Runners up = Charlie J, Ismail
Worst PJ winner= Harry
Runners up= Tom B, Rory
Winner of the orienteering= William G, Tom S, Hemanth
Sorry we were not able to ‘blog’ last night, the internet was broken!
Sooo impressed with boys getting packed and rooms efficiently cleared by 8 am.
Wet clothes have been retrieved from Drying Room and in some cases returned to owners (where named).
Unnamed items will be brought back to school and can be collected on Thursday or Friday from Junior Hall. After that we will dispose of them. Some damp and muddy socks and undergarments have started making their own way out of drying room and were last seen crawling towards the A66.
The teachers’ photography skills (or lack of!) are shown to great effect here – hopefully you can recognise your own child’s dreadful choice of sleepwear.
After battling for hours with the website last night (and failing to get the photos on here for you) I have managed to get a new selection on in a slideshow (see below Tuesday 7.30PM).
The Gremlins seem to be alive and kicking up in Newlands, as well as in Wardle Towers. Hopefully we’ll get something for you within the next hour or so.
We hope you are enjoying what you are seeing and reading! – PW
Boys have been tearing around on an orienteering competition this evening before the ever popular PJ comp (very high standard as I already mentioned) Where do they get their energy? Some mums will probably be pleased to get their pyjamas back – or maybe not.
They are now upstairs cleaning teeth and going to bed sensibly.
We have been impressed with the lads’ team work and support of each other all week. Just helping each other with the tricky business of putting on harnesses and buyancy aids.
A new update has arrived at Wardle Towers and I am pleased to publish it for all of you, knowing that you are ALL missing your little darlings….
The boys arrived back from their afternoon activities hungry and ready for dinner First though they had to get showered and changed for dinner. They then had around 40 minutes of free time which they used to pack their bags ready for tomorrow, allowing them to enjoy tomorrow’s activity without having to worry about packing.
The boys who finished packing first then helped those who hadn’t finished and concentrated on tidying their rooms up. They then headed downstairs for a drink of hot chocolate and a chat about who had the tidiest room. (MyOh My – How the time must fly by with such interesting conversation!!??- PW)
At 6 o’clock everyone had a dinner of tomato soup with bread to start, chicken pie with mash and vegetables for main course and chocolate sponge for pudding. Mr Lyon and Mr Youngson then read out some of the messages that the boys’ parents and loved ones had emailed to them which was very much appreciated.
After cleaning up and a quick change of clothes the boys headed off for their evening activity of Orienteering.
There should be some tired – but happy – lads tucked up in Newlands tonight.
Don’t forget that, if you are unable to see the slideshows on your device you will be able to see them on a Windows PC running Internet Explorer.
At last! We have a report from ‘Up North’ (and a pile of photos too) and things are going well. Mr Lyon writes…
The boys retrurned from their morning activities in fine spirits and some even volunteered to go for a shower without being told to. (Good grief! I need a lie down with that piece of information! – PW)
Lunch was taken outside in the picnic area. the sun was cracking the flags and the boys enjoyed their sandwiches, crisps, biscuits and apples. This was all washed down with some blackcurrant juice.
Some boys then enjoyed some free time playing football and rugby/volleyball (if such a game exists), whilst others rolled down the hill in the garden, or played pool inside in the Common Room.
Afternoon activities are just about to begin and the boys have gone to the ‘Big Green Shed’ to meet their instructors.
The boys sound as if they are having a busy time – but there is still time for them to have a bit of a play around in the sunshine. Well done to the teachers for managing to get an internet connection! Two merits each!!
Mr Lyon has been on the phone to tell me that the internet up in Newlands has now completely disappeared. To solve this they are off to try to find somewhere to use some free WiFi so I am hopeful that some photos come through within the next couple of hours.
It is sunny up at Newlands and the Newlands Gang are out in the garden eating their lunch – sandwiches, crisps, fruit and squash – as well as playing in the grounds. By all accounts behaviour is VERY good and EVERYONE is having a brilliant time. Enjoy the peace and quiet…
Keep on checking back – I’ll put a note in the title of the blog when I get some new photos. PW.
The systems all seem to be working at the moment and the staff have sent another little ditty down from the Lakes….
Quote of the day so far from canoists:
‘James is an oarsome paddler.’
News from the rooms:
Ben wins prize in room 9 for loudest snoring last night.
Occupants of room 5 request ear plugs after Paul spends the night talking to himself.
Paul is in my class and I would have hoped against hope that he might have stopped talking at least while he is sleeping – sadly, it seems that he is just as noisy in the Land of Nod!!!
It is vitally important that the boys have a good breakfast inside them before they start the day’s activities; there is no breakfast better than the Newlands Breakfast.
Mr Lyon has now done his hair and make-up and reports below…
The boys have all tucked into a hearty breakfast to prepare them for this morning’s activities. They feasted on cereal and toast, followed by a cooked breakfast (bacon, sausage, beans, tomato, scrambled egg and mushrooms). There then followed the difficult decision as to what sandwich filling to have for lunch.
The dining room was a little quieter this morning and there were a few tired looks on some boys’ faces. They will certainly sleep well tonight.
Thank you to those parents who have sent messages to your loved ones, which we have passed on to the boys. They are going to their rooms to collect the clothing required for their activities and then the fun will begin…
They must have had double breakfasts this morning because another bulletin has been received this morning…
The weather forecast is dry and improving today- good news for the lads who are all off to either Derwent Water to canoe or Stoneycroft Beck to have a scramble. This is reckoned to be the highlight of the trip by many. Boys have to wear wet suit as well as two layers of clothing (and buoyancy aid + helmet). Alex D’Arcy certainly enjoyed it yesterday and told us all about it in detail, particularly the slides where you did not know what to expect in the plunge. You can expect plenty of soggy stuff when they return.
An early morning bulletin from The Newlands Crew…and some surprising news about the boys actually sleeping! Read on…
A peaceful night was passed in the Newlands Valley. The patter of little feet in the corridor first heard at 06.30, in ten minutes became a crescendo of booted boys off to the latrines. While the kitchen staff prepare the yummy 6 item hot breakfast the lads have been instructed to wear different clothes from day 1 and tidy rooms. Making a bed seems to be a mystery to many of them. More later.
Still having internet problems getting photos uploaded but we are receiving and passing on messages to the boys.
There are some photos to get on here and I will endeavour to get them published in the not-too-distant future.
N.B. If you are not seeing a couple of slideshows on this blog you may need to view it on a different device – or use a different app. I was able to view it with no problem on my Android using FlashFox – but using Chrome nothing is showing. It is best viewed on a PC using Internet Explorer.
From Newlands…
The boys are all tucked up in bed and lights are out. Staff are patrolling the corridors armed with tranquiliser dart guns in case anyone as much as pokes his nose out of the room.
We are all very impressed with the standard of the PJ s and onesies that have been on display here- it will make the judging of the best PJ comp almost impossible!
Last activity of the day was compulsory teeth cleaning. This was greeted less than enthusiastically in some quarters. Night all.
From all of us back home we hope that you have a peaceful night – there is NO chance of that,I’m aftaid. We’ll be thinking of you at 5AM, though I’ll be very jealous at 8AM when you are tucking into your breakfast. Sleep well!!
Mr Youngson writes…
Wow what a meal! Yummy vegetable soup was followed by 3 flavours of the chef’s home-made pizza, consumed rapidly by our hungry campers with chips and salad, rounded off by delicious Lakeland ice cream. Energetic games in the Big Green Shed will hasten digestion (hopefully) before bedtime hot chocolate drinks.
Apologies if the photos are not coming through as yet- we are having problems with the constipated internet up here in the wilds of Cumbria. Hoping the blockage will soon be cleared, there are many pics that we are trying to upload even as I write.
.
We hope that you are enjoying the blog – don’t forget to email your comments.
A picture for your bedroom wall…? Perhaps not! A staff ‘selfie’ for you.
Mr Youngson writes…
Weather has held for us this pm and boys will are returning from lake, ghyll and high ropes.
The high ropes course has been improved again here so that the boys have extra challenges to face. They were all enjoying getting stuck in to the rope bridges and scary confidence steps.
On return canoists and ghyll scramblers will hang wet gear in drying room and be despatched to showers pre dinner. Pizza and chips on the menu which should go down well with happy campers.
(There’s a problem uploading photos due to poor internet connections at Newlands. Hopefully we’ll get more photos on here tomorrow).
The pigeon carrying news of the intrepid travellers has just arrived (I resisted the urge to pop it into a pie) and the report is below…
We have arrived! Boys had lunch at Tebay services and then proceeded to Newlands for 12.15 briefing. All are out on afternoon activities now – Ghyll scramble, High Ropes or canoeing. More pics to follow.
The boys will have been allocated their rooms by now which, if my memory serves me right, will be like jumble sales with clothing all over the place. It is important that the boys are wearing the correct clothes for each activity so they will have been sent back to change if they weren’t properly dressed out.
Safety is of paramount importance and the boys will be kitted out with buoyancy aids and helmets, where appropriate – that’s fun to try on.
Tea will follow later – the boys should be a little tireder by then….though a lot noisier; they will have so much to talk about!
We’ve heard that the boys have all arrived safe and sound up at Newlands.
Lunch was a sumptuous affair, although Mrs Mellor was trying to attract a feathered friend over to her as her lunch was a bit boring and she fancied some crispy duck instead. I think that the duck got away…
Mr Lyon was the photographer in these photos – you can see his fingers in the pictures. I must have a word…you just can’t get the staff!
There was a slight technical hitch with the coach’s alarm at Tebay but, using some of the skills aquired by being in the army, the driver managed to get it all sorted and they were back on their way. They are just having their briefing session before going out and about on their first activities.
They’re off! The boys excitedly made their way up the driveway to be greeted by Alan the Driver, ready to take them up to the Lakes. The atmosphere in school had reached fever pitch in the classrooms and they were ready to go. Once Alan had packed all of the bags onto the coach and Mrs Mellor and Messrs Lyon and Youngson had checked that the boys were all seated and belted, the coach set off – frantically waved-at by a happy band of jolly parents.
The plan is that they will stop off at Tebay Services (they do nice pies there, I recall) for a spot of lunch before continuing on to Newlands.
It’ll be SO noisy on that coach!!
Year 6 pupil Rhys Davies has recently returned from representing England in the European Table Tennis Championships in Strasbourg, France. Rhys performed exceptionally well, winning five of his 12 matches and only just missing out on qualifying for the final knockout stages. Rhys was up against other talented players from France, Belgium, Latvia, Estonia and Malta and did superbly in what was his first international event. Those matches which were unsuccessful were lost by the smallest possible margin which has motivated Rhys further to train and compete at this high level. Rhys also spent a week at an England Hopes Camp for future elite players over the summer.
Full coverage of the tournament can be found on the Table Tennis England website here.
Rhys is pictured on the far left
**UPDATE** 15/09/2015
Rhys has been working his magic again after winning a big tournament over the weekend – his first in the Under 13 category. He beat the top seed and England No.6 in the final. This was after making the semi final in the Under 15s category earlier in the day, despite being only 10 years old!
His big brother Max secured his first tournament win, winning the Plate competition in the Under 15s – thankfully they didn’t have to face one other!
We are very proud of the current Year 6 boys who, at the end of the Summer term, successfully completed their Grade 3 English Speaking Board (ESB) examination. They achieved some impressive results: a one hundred per cent pass rate with 76% in the top two grades. The examination helped develop the boys’ confidence in a key life skill and they were required to learn and recite a poem, read an extract from a book and prepare and present a presentation on a topic of their choice. The boys worked extremely hard to achieve their awards and impressed the examiners with their confident, articulate and knowledgeable deliveries. Well done boys!
By Sgt John Ball
The International Air Cadet Exchange (IACE) is a programme used by countries worldwide where air cadets or members of certain flying clubs visit other countries for a few weeks, experiencing the culture, staying with host families and local armed forces. I was lucky enough to be chosen for the 16-day IACE in Canada which took place in July/August.
On the first day everyone from the British contingent met up at Heathrow airport. We were a large group, partly because it was the first IACE between the UK and Canada. When we landed in Edmonton we met Captain Chan, one of the Canadian escort officers and escort cadets CWO Dacko and CWO Dumais. We then journeyed to the Edmonton garrison where we’d be staying for the next few days and met cadets from all over the globe, from as far apart as America, South Korea, New Zealand, France and China. Once there we broke the ice with a friendly game of football.
The second day consisted of cultural visits. We started at the legislative centre where the laws for Alberta are made before visiting Fort Edmonton where we learned how people used to live in Canada in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Our next day was a visit to 4-wing Cold Lake military base, where we spent the day on a tour to see how the F-18 jets and rescue helicopters are maintained as well as a trip up into the air control tower. The experience was great to see just how the Canadian military worked.
One of the highlights was a trip to West Edmonton mall, one of the 10 biggest malls in the world and the biggest in Canada. As you would imagine it’s huge and contains a gigantic swimming pool, a theme park, a zoo and over 800 stores. Myself and a group of other cadets decided to go to the pool which included many amazing water slides, a very large hot tub and a giant wave pool with a zip line over it. The slides ranged from average to extreme with one even having a drop tank at the start. After that we had lunch and shopped for a few hours before heading off to a BBQ to meet our first host families. We cadets were arranged into random groups and sent to stay with a volunteer family for the weekend. I was with a Brit, an American and an Australian and we stayed with a host family of 6 (plus cat), the Malinowski’s. That evening we headed to bed in our rooms where beds were made and goodie bags were left for us.
Day 5 was a cultural day. We had waffles for breakfast and visited Nav Canada, an air traffic control centre, controlling airspace over most of Canada and up to the North Pole. After lunch we headed to Leduc #1 which is a museum built around an old oil drilling operation, it was a fascinating tour about how the oil formed and is extracted. After this we learned some archery, using boxes for practice and then standing on some scaffolding to fire arrows at frisbees being thrown out from under us. Then we ate ‘Perogies’, sat around a fire pit and made some smores before heading to bed.
The next day we started off early to meet back at the garrison at 6:30 after leaving our first host families. We swapped stories of what we had done and headed over to 408 Squadron, which is the helicopter squadron at the garrison. From there we had tours of the building before a helicopter ride over downtown Edmonton followed by some tactical manoeuvres at about 30ft off the ground around a stand of trees. It was an exhilarating rush that was enjoyed by all. Following this we went to the Wetaskiwin air museum, which had a very large range of historical planes and cars, some of which still functioned.
We then headed to Canmore in the Rockies where we got some incredible views of the glaciers and mountains. We travelled to the Athabasca glacier, and were allowed 15 minutes on it before we took the skywalk tour which was a long curved glass platform that extended over a valley, offering a great view of the river below as well as the valley slopes.
The next trip was to Lake Louise which was exceptionally beautiful and offered the chance to go on some nature walks to a tea house or to rent a boat and spend some time rowing on the lake. After this we headed to Banff which is a bit of a tourist trap, but still offered lovely views. There I tried a Canadian delicacy called a beaver tail. It’s essentially a donut that is flat, about a foot long, 5 inches wide and covered in icing. It tasted gorgeous.
Later we visited the ‘Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump’ which is a heritage site about the native Canadians and how they slaughtered buffalo. The idea behind it is that the buffalo can’t see very well, so a path was made using rocks and sticks which the buffalo were forced down and which ended in a cliff! After this we headed to Waterton, which is a beautiful town near the American border and gave us a chance to relax on the rocky beach next to a cool lake. From there we had a boat take us down the lake into America for about 30 minutes, we didn’t go past customs so we stood on the beach, skipping stones.
Our next visit was to the Frank Slide heritage site, which was about a town called Frank under an unstable mountain and 2 years after they started mining it gave out and the slope collapsed crushing a large part of the town and killing about 100 people, 78 of whom were never found and still lie in the rubble. We then met our second host family, a retired couple called Theresa and Del who had 4 cats. Del had a boat on the lake and we spent the next day playing with a giant inflatable behind the boat and wakeboarding. We headed down to the rodeo with many other families and watched all the crazy people riding bulls and running with bulls like the Spanish Pamplona, the atmosphere was electric with anticipation.
After leaving the host families we headed to Drumheller, a city built in an area called the Badlands where ancient glaciers had scoured away the surface so you could see all the different layers of rock. It also meant that loads of fossils were found so there were numerous dinosaur statues everywhere, including the world’s largest dinosaur model.
On the second to last day we all went to the Bomber Command museum, which is another site where many classic planes had been restored including a Lancaster bomber which is one of 4 in the world that is able to taxi, along with the only functioning Lancaster rear gun in the world. After that we headed to the official goodbye which was a lunch with a number of important people from Alberta where there were a lot of speeches followed by a disco. After that we headed back to the hotel for a pizza party and swapped memorabilia like shirts and little souvenirs.
The last day of the trip was sad because in the morning we had to say our final goodbyes. Our first flight took us to Seattle airport where we had to run through to catch our plane back to Heathrow which meant that some luggage was left behind. After landing back in the UK, we said one last goodbye to each other before heading back to our respective homes with the fond memories still in our heads and Canada forever in our hearts.
Thursday 25th June 2015 – Merchant Taylors’ Schools was honoured to receive a flying visit from Royalty. The Duke of York arrived by helicopter, landing on the Boys’ School sports field. He joined the Schools in the centenary celebrations of the formal recognition of its Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in 1915 when it was originally established as the Officer Training Corps (OTC). Upon his arrival HRH was greeted by a group of excited flag waving pupils from both the Boys’ and Girls’ Junior Schools.
The Duke of York was the guest of honour at the morning church service of commemoration and celebration which took place at St Faith’s, Crosby. The service began a full day of celebrations and saw the dedication of new CCF contingent colours. Special tribute was also paid to the 155 Old Boys of the School who lost their lives in the First World War, as well as other conflicts since that time. HRH gave a reading to the congregation. Afterwards guests moved back over to the Boys’School for an afternoon of CCF demonstrations and presentations by the pupil cadets with an Inspection of the Guard of Honour by Commodore David Dutton, RN OBE. Commodore Dutton is a former pupil of the Boys’ School. During the Inspection cadets were treated to a passenger flight in a Merlin, the Royal Navy’s new generation of helicopters.
Merchant Taylors’ Schools’ Combined Cadet Force is one of the largest contingents in the country involving boys and girls from both senior schools (over 240). At the time of its formal recognition the CCF included only male cadets but now, for the first time ever, there are more girls than boys in the force.
A gala dinner was held that evening where the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dame Lorna Muirhead, was the Chief Guest. Many former pupils that have been involved in the CCF over the years – some of whom have gone on to pursue illustrious careers in the armed forces – came back to join in the celebratory dinner.
David Cook, Headmaster of Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, said “This is a very proud day in the history of the Schools. We are honoured that The Duke of York has taken time out of his busy schedule to help us celebrate such a memorable event. The CCF has been an integral and important part of school life over the last 100 years. Our pupils, both boys and girls, are able to enrol from Year 9 onwards. As well as providing a disciplined military grounding for our pupils it more importantly provides invaluable skills such confidence, self-reliance, initiative and loyalty as well as fostering an important sense of service to others. These are life skills that will help our young people thrive in the future.”
by Jacob Foster
On Saturday 4th July, Merchant Taylors’ CCF cadets were waved off by family and friends as we embarked on what would be an eagerly anticipated and unforgettable summer camp. Arriving promptly at Warcop training area in Cumbria, the staff greeted us as we pulled into the car park. We wasted no time at all getting into our routine and were allocated billets. This would be my third camp with the cadet force, and understandably, I had high expectations!
We had fewer than seven days in which to cram a whole host of various activities, so we were hard at work from the moment we arrived. Reveille was at 0600 and training usually ended at 2030 each day. We were therefore grateful to spend a relaxing two hours of the evening and a welldeserved “lights out” at 2230 hours. The 16-bed dormitories we stayed in would be seeing only slight use as there was a full programme ahead of us. It was also mandatory to work together to keep the rooms and our appearance impeccable for fear of falling victim to one of RSM Brett’s regular and tediously thorough inspections.
I found the “call of duty” exercise very fun. This involved learning how to ambush a building by working in pairs as part of a larger team. It was a means of combat new to us all, and firing blanks in the close confines of each room was thrilling. The procedure combined stealth along with fire and manoeuvre drills to quickly and efficiently clear each room of a disused building in a target time of 90 seconds.
Another enjoyable aspect of camp was “jungle lane”. Advancing along a stream, we had the opportunity to fire blank ammunition at electronic targets to simulate enemy positions. This taught me how to communicate more effectively with younger cadets. By the end of the day, everyone’s confidence had grown and notable individual and team performances were achieved. This experience, I found, took me out of my comfort zone and for the first time, gave me a sense of responsibility for a team. The main military event of the week was “Warcop Wanderer.” This was a platoon attack simulation in which the morning was spent rehearsing the skills for the afternoon’s exhilarating battle exercise. After a quick wash to remove the cam cream, we were in for a treat with some great food in the mess hall.
It was exciting to shoot on the electronic simulator known as the DCCT and receive coaching on how to improve my shot. This was in preparation for live firing on the 30m range the next day. I found it interesting to learn precise shooting from those who had a wealth of knowledge. As a result, I could improve my shot and two months later go on to join the shooting team and participate in the CSAAM shooting competition at Altcar.
Our overall morale was exceptional. One particular teambuilding activity comes to mind when thinking of how morale positively affected our decisionmaking and performance. As part of our First Aid course, we partook in an enticing patient simulation exercise where we had to split our team of six to offer care to respective patients. This taught us to work under pressure and to think on the spot, as well as gaining in-depth First Aid knowledge. The highlight of my week, however, must be receiving the award of “Best Cadet” and Lance Corporal rank after our school drill competition between the three appointed sections.
I can’t lie, army camp can be daunting at first, but we were soon welcomed into a new lifestyle. I can honestly say that the friendships I made at Warcop will stay with me for a very long time. It consistently proves a tough but rewarding week and this year was no exception, having been given the opportunity to participate in some things I had never tried before. One example was rock climbing and cliff jumping into the idyllic Ullswater as part of Adventurous Training. The seven days we spent in the Lakes will make an impact on the rest of my year by encouraging my teamwork, knowledge, confidence and initiative. You may even find me ironing my clothes once in a while! As for my week… how could I possibly wish for anything more?