Last Thursday 13, P5 children from all three Primary Schools in the Glenkens Cluster took part in the annual Residential Trip to Carlingwalk. Although it was for only one night, some children appeared to have packed enough clothes for a week!

Once we had arrived at Carlingwalk, we had a tour of our accommodation for the night and got ourselves ready for our outdoor activities.

We spent the rest of the day in Dalbeattie Forest; enjoying Orienteering and Mountain Biking activities! All the children rose to the challenge of reading their maps in order to find the markers, hidden in the different parts of the forest and there was a lot of excellent team work so that the pairs worked well together, to try to be the first back each time.

The boys and girls grew in confidence, handling and manoeuvring their bikes, to tackle the uneven surfaces of the forest tracks. They all enjoyed the exhilarating ride along the trails.

After all that exercise we were more than ready for a lovely meal at The Scottish Pantry, followed by a moonlit walk back to the Carlingwalk Centre. Back at the centre the children enjoyed playing a number of games before getting showered and ready for bed.

After a good night’s sleep (for most!) our next day of adventure began with a filling breakfast. We then put our outdoor clothing on once more and set off for the day’s challenge; to climb Screel Hill! It was great to see everyone trying hard to both climb up and scramble down the hill. Not everyone found it easy, but everyone overcame their fears and told themselves that they could do it. By the time we’d got back to the car park to get on the mini bus to take us back to Carlingwalk, the children who had found the walk the hardest were saying it was the best thing they had done during their two day adventure!

Both Mr Gray and Mrs Turner agree that the children behaved very well and showed excellent team building skills during the trip, as well as being friendly and supportive of each other. Talking to the children on the way back to school on Friday evening, the children all agreed that they had a fantastic time!

Well Done P5s!