Mixed emotions this morning as it was time to bid a fond farewell to Swattenden Centre and the staff. We were sad to be leaving such a great place, but at the same time, excited to be seeing our family and school friends again. After a big breakfast it was time to do a thorough packing session. Anything left would be mailed to us, but obviously we wanted to take everything back.
As long as Dan took back Doug's One Direction mug back that was the main thing for Doug!! You will be pleased to know, he remembered.
For possibly the first time on Swattenden history, they left on time!! Everything was going to plan so far. They stopped off at Groombridge Place for a nice walk around the gardens and a lunch prepared by the Swattenden staff....probably to make up for the fact they soaked everyone the day before.
We arrived back at school at 3, greeted by some faces we had missed that week. Three late care children had to wait that little bit longer but had one of the most relaxing sessions they have ever had. Laying in the sun and falling asleep!!
Everyone involved with making our Swattenden experience fantastic, we thank you. The teachers, staff and the team at the centre were fantastic, supportive and helped us do things we would not think about doing.
A final thank you goes to the supportive parents who have followed us every step of the way through reading this blog, and making the trip possible financially. You will be pleased to know that you have made everyone very very happy.
So that is the blog over. This is the first time this has happened so we hope it has worked. We hope parents have enjoyed reading this. It is going to stay on here until the next Swattenden trip, so if you want to keep this then you can copy this all for your records
- Doug.
An overcast morning greeted us all. The new adults didn't know what hit them when we surfaced at 7 (ish). A long day was in store for us as it was our last full day at Swattenden. After another healthy sitting of breakfast in the main hall it was time to start our day's activities. Today consisted of zip wire and wall climbing. That was not all that happened to us today, but that is to be revealed later.
Olivia Anderson, who was very brave on the all aboard but did not quite make the top of the platform, faced her fears again today but this time on the rope bridge. Her attitude and determination was brilliant and Dan inparticular was very proud of her. For someone who does not like heights, she did fantastically well. Well done Olivia!!!!
After a day of facing fears and flying around on the zipline, yes now we realise that Dan should have done it in his onesie, it was time for dinner. What followed dinner was Swattenden tradition. Here's the surprise.....the Swattenden photo!!!! Doesn't sound amazingly exciting does it? But this was a photo with a difference. The head chef, Nick, lined us all up against the hedge and we were all smiling, but we weren't for long. Buckets and buckets of water were thrown over us from behind by the other staff members. So a couple of things were learnt with this experience.
1. Wear old clothes on the last evening
2. NEVER trust the staff when they want a "photo"
The evening turned out better for us. The weather cleared and anyone who wanted to go outside did. A 90 minute football watch was played on the tennis courts. This of course exhausted the children even more so a good night's sleep was sure to follow. As the children had been so good during the day, staff allowed a slightly later bed time of 9:30-10:00. Last day tomorrow!!!!
Comments 2The wet weather has officially hit us today. We did lots of outdoor activities including the all aboard, raft and shelter building (the other group who didn't do it yesterday), giant swing, zip line and much much more. The wet weather did not stop us from having fun and tonight we went off on a night walk round the woods which was wet but exciting. Today also saw the end of Doug and Andrea's time at Swattenden, with Mark, Teresa and Jo. P arriving at 5:30. We thank them for their time at Swattenden and have really enjoyed their company and their participation which made us feel more confident in doing the tasks. Tomorrow includes the zip lines, big swing and all aboard for the groups who were not able to do it today. A game of rounders follows that in the evening so lets hope for some nice weather!!
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