On Wednesday, 8th May 2019, the Ocean Class went on the first ever Bushcraft expedition to Cornbury Park. It was pouring with rain when we arrived and it was very cold. We were shown around camp which consisted of several large tents, a toilet block, a camp kitchen, washing up station and a central yurt. Everyone unpacked and settled in quickly and then the fun began!
The first activity of the trip was to learn to light a fire and to cook our own burger lunch on it! The children then spent the afternoon designing and making two large shelters in the woods.
In the evening we sat around the camp fire and toasted marshmallows which was great fun.
After a pretty good first night, we started the second day with a breakfast of pancakes. The children then learnt some basic survivial and first aid techniques. This involved a very exciting stretcher race at the end with a bumpy ride for the patients.
We played lots of games in the woods whilst wearing our camouflage make up.
In the afternoon we walked to the lake and went crayfishing in the stream. Some children were brave enough to take off their shoes and socks and play in the mud!!
In the evening we had a talent show and hot chocolate with a bedtime story to finish the day. Everyone went to sleep much more quickly after such a busy day!
On the final morning we had a fry up! The camp leaders then demonstrated how to fillet a whole salmon and cook it for lunch. Four children offered to take up the fish eyeball eating challenge which was extremely brave of them!
It was hard work packing up all our things but it was certainly worth it for all the great and memorable experiences we had. Enormous thanks goes to Mrs White and Mrs Clements for giving up their time to accompany the trip and to our bushcraft team who made sure that everyone had a really great adventure!
