Robinwood Adventure

Tuesday 07 May 2024 | By Megan Connor

After a coach journey and then a 40 minute walk, Upper Prep pupils arrived at Robinwood. They had already navigated the narrow, steep roads, crossed a bridge and made friends with some sheep!

The students were then divided into three groups: Waterfall, Spring and Stream, ready to complete various challenges. Archery proved a firm favourite with all of the groups, involving the skills of accuracy and strength and many students managed to get the coveted ‘bullseye’. Caving was equally well received, after putting on helmets and head torches groups went into the man-made cave, finding their way in the dark to ‘save’ someone. Then groups went to Area 51, working in pairs to find the toxic ’goo’, communication, problem solving and speed were of the essence.

Year 6 shared write

Archery

The aim of the game was to hit different spots of the target and make a pizza. A miss shot is floor dust, white is dough, red is sauce, black is burnt, blue is toppings, and yellow (bullseye) is the cheese. You needed good listening, co-operation, communication and even some respect! They were very good at this activity and enjoyed the challenge of trying to hit the target without burning their pizza.

Lola, Emily and Eleora, Year 5

Caving

Once we arrived, I was happy to experience the caving activity, which turned out to be my favourite part of the day. As we entered the cave, we had to pass through narrow hallways and tight squeezes, which required us to bend and crawl in some places. It was scary in some parts, but the adrenaline rush made it all the more exciting. To make sure we were safe, we had to wear helmets and head torches so that we could see where we were going and avoid hitting our heads on rocks or other obstacles. 

I enjoyed it because Benj came into the caves despite being scared. When Benj came up an opening he went down like it was a slide head first which was funny and made me laugh a lot.

I learned if you are scared you should always try because it could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it could always help you face your fears or be a lot more fun than it looks. 

Freddie, Year 6

Piranha Pool

During our recent visit to Robinwood, all the children participated in a thrilling activity called the Piranha Pool challenge. This exciting challenge was designed to test their ability to work together and escape from a room before the piranhas were released. All the teams worked together and managed to escape with very little time left, which was a test to show their teamwork and problem-solving skills.

The instructors at Robinwood were really good to the students and motivated their teams throughout the challenge. They provided clear instructions and guidance to ensure that the students were safe and engaged throughout the activity. Even though the pool water was cold, all the students challenged themselves to cross it, and it was great to see them overcome their fears and push themselves beyond their limits.

The Piranha Pool challenge was by far the most popular activity, and everyone enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a great opportunity for the children to experience teamwork, and problem-solving, and to challenge themselves. Overall, the Piranha Pool challenge was a fantastic experience for everyone involved, and we are grateful to the instructors at RobinWood for making it such a memorable day.

Lyla, Year 6

In the Piranha Pool you needed to solve mysteries and answer questions. There was a giant wooden case on the other side of the freezing cold piranha pool. There was a neon orange ball in the top right corner with a padlock blocking it from moving down to the bottom of the case. Someone needed to jump on a giant lilypad and be sent across the cold pool.

After that, we all started looking for codes until we found a code which unlocked a door with questions inside. Then we needed to look at the facts on the board of facts and under the board were letters and the giant piranha had letters inside. So someone reached in and found multiple numbers for the code. Then I needed to jump head first into the freezing cold piranha pool, get a tube and fill it full of water and dump it in a bucket.

I had to jump across the pool to unlock another padlock while the team told me the code. We didn’t know the two last numbers, so I went back in the cold water and on the other side to find the missing two numbers. I ended up finding them and unlocking another padlock.

I then got the ball out the wooden steel case and we all got on the other side safely but then we realised we needed to put the ball in the hole on the other side so I swam back over and put it back in then we all escaped the piranha escape room. 

The skills we developed were listening, resilience and problem solving. We all completed the tasks together as a team.

Benj, Year 5

Canoeing

When we went canoeing it was boys vs girls. It was so fun! We played lots of games including a game of tag, collecting the equipment in the pond and racing across it. The girls cheated a lot and the boys came out victorious by a little bit (not really, 5-1… the girls got thrashed). I thought it would be a close game, but we controlled our boat better than them. Mrs Williams pushed us to victory.

Jacob, Year 6

Zip Wire

Zip wire was the highest point of Robinwood. Some children were scared but they still tried it, so they can say they’ve been at the highest point of Robinwood. The expert of the zip wire was called Greg and it was his birthday so he hid sweets at the end of the zip wire in a tyre for people to reach. No one got them, apart from a teacher from the Spring group, Mrs Williams, who got the sweets because she was taller than us!

Noah and Eshaan, Year 5

Robinwood has been a wonderful experience for all of our Upper Prep children. They have been super ambassadors for our school and it has been great to see them develop their communication, teamwork and resilience, among other key qualities. Most of all, it is encouraging that children jumped right into all of the tasks and challenged themselves, even if they were a bit scared!

Miss Lockerbie