Bushcraft
Day 4 – Thursday 4 July
Wow! What a day! We finished the Bushcraft course on a high point. It was hilarious to watch Y7s navigate the woodland blindfolded, guided only by a rope and their friends. Another exercise showed the perils of poor visibility in dangerous wild situations – as anyone who has ever tried walking in a straight line without visual aids will know! Latymerians then learned how to forage for food, finding wild garlic, elderflowers and ground ivy to cook into their own bannock bread. They ate these for lunch, as well as having fresh salad and cheese to top them up.
The afternoon lessons covered making emergency stretchers and other first aid techniques.
The culmination of all of their skills was in the Really Wild Olympics, testing skills including fire lighting, stretcher making, and use of improvised spears to hit targets.
Dinner was amazing veggie chili pasta cooked by our very own Marcello! The sauce really hit the spot. Thanks, Marcello!
In the evening, stories were told around the campfire until late at night, when we crawled into our tents one last time before heading to Brighton in the morning.
Day 3 – Wednesday 3 July
Latymer Bushcrafters achieved huge amounts today. In the woods, they learned to make excellent emergency shelters out of only canvas and paracords. They also learned how to set traps from Naz, the expert tracker and jungle survival trainer from Borneo (who also holds a Guinness world record for climbing the world’s tallest tree).
In the afternoon, they made amazing smoky signal fires on tripods, using lots of skills they’ve developed over the week so far. They also honed their skills using improvised spears.
After burgers for tea, there were games of crocodiles and challenges where Y7s stalked our pro coaches through the woods in the dark!
Day 2 – Tuesday 2 July
Y7 Bushcrafters woke up with the sun beating down on their tents this morning. After hot showers, we ate breakfast – served by Latymerians! Thank you to Molly, Kilyan, Yuri, Henry and Louis!
We then enjoyed classes on how to ignite and build a fire without matches, including a fire-lighting relay race (lighting cotton wool with flint and steel kits), and how to start a fire with wet materials.
After a tasty wrap for lunch and a recap on knife skills, Latymerians learned how to make spatulas! I hope parents are looking forward to a present… Dinner was sausage pasta! Night games coming up!
Day 1 – Monday 1 July
Latymer’s Year 7s have only been in Sussex since midday, but they have already achieved so much! After a quick lunch, they were put to work erecting their tents. It was tough, but everyone worked as a team to put up all thirteen – some even helped the teachers with their tents !
After a safety briefing, everyone managed to learn three different cutting techniques and produced their own wooden tent pegs! We’re all ready for tonight’s dinner – a tasty chicken and chorizo stew (and a delicious veggie alternative).
