just another morning here

Having really enjoyed the week at Calvert last year, I was really pleased to be going again this year – with some students who had been before, and others for whom it was a new experience. I’m pleased to report that it was brilliant again

I confess, I was mostly looking forward to the food and the company, but I enjoyed the activities too (the food was the best though!). We had a camera in each group this year so I wasn’t the official photographer, but joined in with all the activities, so that was a lot of fun.

In a shock spontaneous moment I decided to ride a horse – I have been slightly scared of horses since I was a child but decided the time had come to get over it! It was quite fun, I can definitely see the attraction, but I think I’ll stick to geocaching – much cheaper. Speaking of which, I found one of the caches around Wistpoundland reservoir this year while walking around with the students – excellent

Generally it’s just a lovely week to spend with some of my favourite people – staff and students alike – they are a fantastic bunch. Brilliant to see the children having opportunities they don’t normally get, achieving so much, and enjoying themselves with the freedom that comes from being away from the confines of school. We were lucky with the weather again this year which was great. There were a few people who couldn’t go which was a shame, and they were very much missed.

My family, meanwhile, didn’t miss me at all, I don’t think … so after a day of music related activities on Saturday followed by a school quiz night in the evening, I went back to work for a day on Sunday to write reports. It had better be nice weather in the Easter holidays, that’s all I can say!

Having not really had a family holiday this year, we decided to push the boat out at New Year and booked a break at Center Parcs. Gulp! It was embarrassingly expensive but we have had a lovely time together. The children didn’t have Christmas presents from us this year; instead they chose activities to do while we were away.

Abbie chose a horseriding lesson – she loved this as she got to canter and do a small jump as well, things she hadn’t attempted before. Having had horse riding lessons for birthday and Christmas, she is hooked (and I am very worried about this!).

Joe chose laser combat – so Steve HAD to go with him This actually looked like loads of fun and I wished we’d all gone!

Anna chose to come to the spa with me – I don’t usually go in for that sort of thing but it was quite relaxing I suppose … and very lovely to spend the time with Anna She will kill me for posting a pic but she did love the waterbed

We didn’t go out to the New Year’s Eve party (bah humbug) but cooked enchiladas at home, did our jigsaw, and then sat in bed listening to the fireworks. Instead we celebrated New Year’s Day in style – the kids all had a session aqua-jetting before a champagne buffet brunch with live jazz band. In fact we had live music twice as there was a classical guitarist playing in the restaurant where we had dinner in the evening, which was great too. During the afternoon Steve had booked pool tables so we enjoyed chilling out there.

Lots of swimming, sauna, and relaxation in-between all the activity.

Very much enjoyed the weekend Having said that, even though we all enjoyed it, I’m not sure we’ll go back in a hurry – it’s fantastic, but as we are limited to peak times these days, it is very expensive! I missed exploring the countryside and seeing something new of the world, something we usually do wherever we are on holiday, even just in the UK … we are trying to decide what sort of holiday to have in the summer but perhaps, having read the offer in the comments on the post below, we won’t need to book a holiday for the summer at all

We went up to spend the bank holiday weekend in Yorkshire with friends, and it was lovely to get away for a couple of days. Abbie really enjoyed meeting Tipsy the pony; Josiah fell in with old friends, and Anna sat around being a teenager.
We went out for a walk when the rain cleared on Sunday – it was incredibly windy, but fabulous

Now we are home, everyone has started being grumpy again despite half term

Before anyone on facebook asks again, no I haven’t broken my Lenten fast, the blog automatically feeds posts to facebook!

I was away on a school residential last week, so Steve and the children were here alone. To be honest, I’m not surprised they didn’t miss me as this year Steve has done pretty much everything even when I am here, as I’ve been buried under work. I usually cook tea but apparently the children did that between them. They had a busy week, including two piano exams, four performances at the DPAF, a hockey match, various lessons as usual, and an additional trip to see Fantastic Mr Fox – the Opera with Grandma & Grandpa. By the time I got home the house was relatively tidy and hoovered, plus clean sheets on my bed, and Abbie had cooked dinner during her Home Economics lesson – result! Josiah does seem to be walking around in a pair of identical shoes to his own, two sizes too big – but that’s a minor detail! Some poor child at school will be wondering why their feet hurt …

My residential was at the Calvert Trust, an outdoor ed place specifically for people with disabilities. It was an amazing week yet totally exhausting, as residentials always are I know, but probably more so given that we were doing round the clock care for our kids as well. Accommodation was fab – I think my little group were quite lucky though, we had the biggest apartment including a tv in the lounge, so we had a few of the kids in most mornings to watch tv while waiting for breakfast!

The kids all got to abseil, climb, and canoe, as well as take part in other activities like crate stacking, horse riding and archery. There was a swimming/hydrotherapy pool onsite too – with jacuzzi, and as well as all that there were evening activities to choose from as well; arts and crafts, a visit from the local zoo with animals to interact with, then a disco on the final night. Staff joined in with all the activities too, and it was as challenging for some of them as it was for the children! For some kids it was a huge deal just to be away from home; one of my students was totally thrown and hardly ate all week, and was very quiet and reticent – but managed it and enjoyed the activities that weren’t height related. He did look VERY pleased to be back in the familiar surroundings of school on the last day though! Other students enjoyed the independence and freedom offered them in that setting, and had a ball taking part in activities that they don’t normally have the opportunity to do, and it was such a treat to see them enjoying themselves so much.

The staff at the centre were fantastic – I was lucky to be designated as official photographer (I took 756 shots in 5 days!) so I got to see all three of the activity groups at work, and see how the staff worked so well with our students – obviously that’s what they’re trained to do but I was still totally impressed! Sensory introductions to activities, photos/symbols to explain what we were going to do, games to help students who found things challenging, etc. etc. Endless patience. Just amazing. I can’t post many photos, of course, but here are a few that don’t show any more than the activities in the beautiful surroundings. We were incredibly lucky with the weather, which made it all the more enjoyable

One group did their Duke of Edinburgh expedition by walking around the whole reservoir; I had hoped to find the 4 geocaches that are hidden around it while I was with them but it was nigh on impossible to look properly and keep an eye on the kids at the same time, they didn’t really understand what on earth I was doing, so I gave up! I could have crept out at night with a torch but that would have been silly, really – plus I was still on duty in any case! Will have to go back another day