It has been a very busy term for the uniformed organisations here at Turi, with four of the five groups enjoying their camps during the first half term. At the end of week 1 the Scouts travelled the short distance to Kembu for their annual camping trip. With fabulous weather, the boys enjoyed a wonderful feast cooked by themselves on the Friday evening, followed by a night walk around Kenana Farm led by Mr Spragg.

On a very clear night we were also treated to some excellent astronomy knowledge and star gazing opportunities again from Mr Spragg. A roaring campfire and hot chocolate brought proceedings to an end on Friday night, and after a good night’s sleep the boys were ready for more activity on Saturday morning. The boys were split into three teams, and completed activities involving tripod building, fire lighting using only flint and steel firelighters, and also completed ‘Mission Improbable’ an elaborate team challenge. All of the staff were enormously impressed with the efforts all the Scouts during the course of the weekend, with many boys requesting to go again the following week! Thanks to all of the Scout staff team for a non-stop 36 hours!

The following week was the turn of the Guides. Miss Curry had created a very early vision of all the Guides going to the Hog Charge for their camp this year, which was an ambitious but fantastic idea. As usual, Miss Curry left no stone unturned in organising a wonderful experience for the girls, and was ably assisted by all of the other Guides staff. Many of the girls completed the Hog Charge as cycling teams, with many others volunteering to be camp site managers and marketing consultants on our marketing stand half way round the course. It was a hugely successful weekend, with great performances from all the girls (as well as the cycling staff!). Huge thanks go to Miss Curry for leading the organisation of such a wonderful experience.

At the end of week 5 it was the turn of the Brownies and the Chippets. The Chippets had a fantastic camp on the school camp site, complete with a wide range of games and activities, together with an enormous campfire. All of the boys and girls had a great time camping, some of them for the first time. A big thank you to all staff involved in this, and also to the scouts who helped with putting up all of the tents.

Meanwhile, the Brownies were off to Kembu, where they also had a fabulous time, the highlights including the night walk and the home-made pizzas! Miss Hirons and her team worked incredibly hard to ensure everybody was well fed, and the feedback from the pupils was that the pizzas were amazing! A big thank you also goes to Miss Hirons and the Brownies staff team for organising such a great camp.

The final camp of the year will be Cub camp, which is on the calendar for the end of week 10 on Friday 22nd March. We are hoping for good weather for this camp too, unlike last year when it was rather wet…..

Mr Steve Foster

Director of Co-Curricular