AYLMERTON 2021

On Friday 11th June 21 children, along with Mrs James, Mrs Smith and Miss Wantling went on a residential visit to Aylmerton Field Study Centre in Norfolk.

We departed school at 9 am and arrived just before 11 am.  The children were all very excited.  Please take a look at what we did over the 4 days.

Friday 11th June 2021

After arriving at the centre, we got settled into our dormitories, sorted out who was having which bed, put away our clothes and then went outdoors to have our lunch.  We met our team leaders for the day who were Sonic and Tinkerbell.  After lunch we got on the coach and went to visit Happisburgh where we examined the beach and talking about the erosion of the cliffs.  After this we got back on the coach and travelled to Sea Palling, just along the coast.  Again we examined the beach environment, had time for a paddle in the sea and managed to find time to have an ice-cream.  We then took the bus back to the centre for our evening meal - Pizza and wedges followed by chocolate sponge with chocolate sauce.  At 7.30 pm we then set of on a twilight safari going through the woods and around the Felbrigg Estate.  We visited the church on the estate and was told the story of the family who owned the Felbrigg Estate.

We arrived back at the centre just before 10 pm to have a hot chocolate drink and biscuit before bedtime.

Saturday 12th June 2021

After breakfast we received our instructions for the day from Sonic and Myaman.  We had to pretend we were pirates for the day and were then split into 2 groups.  The activities that we took part in was:

• how to build a tent from wood sticks and a sheet of tarpaulin - some of us got really wet!
• how to to cross a river on a zip wire to land in the boat
• how to make a fire from flint and straw

After lunch we continued with our skills from above and then went on a pirate hunt around part of the Felbrigg Estate looking for answers to the clues which we were set.  Once we had all the answers, we had to go back to the centre and the answers we retrieved were the code to unlock the box of treasure.

After our evening meal - pasta bolognese, followed by a desert, we went out into the grassed picnic/play area and had a couple of games of bingo followed by hot chocolate and a biscuit before bedtime.

Sunday 13th June 2021

Today was the day where we would be out all day on the marshes with Tinkerbell and Eagle Eye.

After breakfast, we ensured that we had everything we needed for the day and departed on a coach to the village of Cley.  We walked for miles examining the shingle habitat and looking for the different types of rock, shells and stones that were on the beach.  Some children collected that many that their bags must have been heavy!  At lunchtime we sate in the dunes to eat our lunch followed by a 10 minute silence where we laid in the dunes, closed our eyes and listened to the sounds around us.

After this, we walked a bit further examining the dune habitat before walking across the marsh to Blakeney.  For this we had to roll our trousers up to our thighs, take off our shoes and socks and walk through the marsh in barefoot - it was deep, slippery and very muddy.

As we got near to Blakeney, Eagle Eye picked some Samphire for the children to taste.  They also looked for cockles in the mud.  Many children did not know what a cockle was like to taste so when we got back to the main car park, Mrs Smith bought some cockles from a stall for the children all to try if they so wanted to.  Several children tried them but not many liked them!

We then got back on the bus and headed back to the centre for our evening meal - roast chicken dinner, followed by a desert.  Our evening entertainment was a storyteller.  We sat around a camp fire and listened to the stories he had to tell.  It was then time for another hot chocolate and biscuit before bedtime.  Some children by this point were getting very tired from the late nights.

Monday 14th June 2021

Our last day!

After breakfast we boarded the coach from the centre and travelled to Cromer where we did a trown trail looking at different art and sand sculputres along the way.  During the trail we were given a map and a set of clues, the answers to the clues were to open a briefcase which each team had.  Inside the briefcase was a sweet lolly for every child.  We ate our final lunch on the beach and then headed to the large car park in Cromer where our bus was waiting to bring us home to our families.