All of us have had a fantastic week. We would like to thank the staff (especially Adam, Ally and Georgie) for all their enthusiasm, help and encouragement over the week. All of the children have become much better team players: learning to listen to and encourage each other, take turns and cooperate more effectively. Everyone has challenged themselves, scared themselves, felt proud of themselves and most importantly enjoyed themselves during this action packed, exhausting and exhilarating week.
Thank you for following the blog. Anyone who wants a copy of my pictures and videos please bring a memory stick (with a large memory - there are 440 photos/film!!) into school and I will gladly give you a copy. Mrs M

Mingo (the flamingo) is our trip mascot and as our trip has come to an end we decided to set her free.... watch this video to see what happened..... 

The last day..... boo hoo.... Today everybody slept in, but we finally managed to pack and clear our rooms (a painful process!) before the activities started.On the last morning we have had an It's a Knockout competition with lots of different team games and then after lunch we worked in our teams to build shelters.

Thank you for all the positive comments on the blog. The children have had an amazing time and not missed you at all, they have been too busy! Tonight we had a talent show with Adam, Ally and Mr Childs judging. I think you can guess who took on the role of Simon Cowell. Here are the acts.

Drum roll............................and the winner is..........................................MC performing Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' unaccompanied. Watch her video here:

After the talent show we played games outside.

What a great week the children have had! I've really enjoyed following the blog and looking at the activities TSM children have been up to!

I've also enjoyed reading all of the parents comments and those written by younger and older siblings. I'm pleased to see the website being actively used but also pleased that if any perspective parents look at our site they are going to be super impressed with the activities we offer and the positive parent support that is out there.

I am also so pleased that everyone of our children attended the Thorpe Woodlands trip. I know the trip is expensive but my hope is that after following the children for the week on this blog, you feel that it was money well spent! (Perhaps not so much when they open that suit case in the kitchen on Friday night!)

This week, the children have achieved things that they never thought they could do! It might have been climbing a wall, swinging through trees, being away from the comforts of home or just not seeing family for more than one day. Every child from this school will walk away having learnt something new.

A huge thank you to Mrs Matthews and Mr Childs for leading this trip. Thank you for the super blog! I say this every time at the end of residential trip BUT leading residential trips IS HARD WORK! It is a massive responsibility taking care of 27 children for a whole week and there is no switch off time. It is constant. you are teacher 24 hours a day for the full 5 days!  However, the one thing that makes it all worthwhile is seeing a different side to the children that we know in school, watching them achieve things they didn't think they could and watching them mature and think for themselves in such a short space of time. Giving up time to lead a residential is above and beyond what is expected of a teacher. There's no handing children back to parents at 3:30pm! This is why I am incredibly appreciative of staff who lead this trip for our children.

Thank you also to Mrs MacFarlane for the original organisational work that was put in. She was gutted not to have led this trip but has definitely been keeping up to date following the blog. Thank you also to Mrs Simpson who books the trip, coordinates the coaches, completes the paperwork for the local authority,does the finances etc as this bit often gets overlooked.

I hope you all have a fabulous final night. And... parents it wont be long they will be back with you very soon! 

During the afternoon tomorrow, Mrs Matthew's will contact me to indicate an expected time of arrival. This information will be sent out via text message to all parents. 

Mr Stock

The instructor for the Mad Monk Jacks is Ally.

The instructor for the Super Squirrels is Adam.

The instructor for the Fearless Foxes is Georgie

This afternoon the Mad Monk Jacks went on the Big Swing and then went for a cycle ride into the forest.

The Super Squirrels went for a cycle ride first and then went tree trekking using the high ropes.

The Fearless Foxes went tree trekking using the high ropes and then went on the Big Swing.

The Super Squirrels did the Big Swing.

The Mad Monk Jacks went up into the trees tree trekking.

Here are some reviews of the day. Click on the pictures to read the reviews.

This evening we had a scavenger hunt and smores around the bonfire. JW even played us a few tunes!

This afternoon the Mad Monk Jacks went on the power fan and zip slide and had a go at crate stacking.

The Super Squirrels had a go at crate stacking (and broke the TSM Record by stacking 16 crates high). Later on they went raft building.

The Fearless Foxes went raft building and then went on the zip slide and power fan.