There were a lot of bleary eyes around the breakfast table this morning as the excitement and energy of the week begins to catch up with everyone. After cereal, toast, orange juice and tea, we made our sandwiches for the last time and the ‘cleaner-uppers’ did their final tidy up of the two dining rooms.  After that we were sent back to our dorms to begin packing, stripping our beds, hoovering and tidying in preparation for dorm inspections by the instructors at 10am.

 When our rooms were tidy, we got our dorm photos taken and went to our meeting rooms for our final debrief and review of the week with our instructors. We were pleased to receive our certificates as recognition of our achievements during the week, and after a final clear up of the boot rooms and equipment stores, we headed to the Green Room to for the presentation of a certificate to Mearns Primary and to thank our instructors. Then we all gathered outside on the lawn for a whole group photo. After trying to identify and collect as many items of lost property from the Green Room as we could, we had some time to enjoy our packed lunches and chat with our friends.

The coaches arrived and at noon we lugged our suitcases down the stairs ready for loading on to the buses. It was great to see all our instructors gathered outside the Castle to wave goodbye. Cheers rang out as the buses pulled out, heading along the gravelly path, past the Nissan Hut boot room, past the bamboo plantation, past the high ropes and the Catwalk, past the mudpits that led down to the gorge and onto the coastal road back to Dunoon.

Adam (P7.28) said, “I really enjoyed myself at Castle Toward and I feel that I pushed myself to do the best I could in every activity.” Michael (P7.26) summed up his experiences of the week by saying, “I had fun and would recommend going on outdoor adventures like those we took part in at Castle Toward to my family and friends. I will have great memories of this week.”

 *Update*

The buses arrived back safely at Mearns Primary School this afternoon. Everyone collected their cases and went off home with family and friends, talking animatedly about their experiences. It has been a fantastic week!

Pupils should return to school at 2.30pm.  The children are currently in Greenock.

Please collect your child from the Street.

Wake-up time on Day 4 at Castle Toward was a slightly quieter affair as nearly all dorms were still asleep at 7.30am! After the usual breakfast and lunch-making routine, we went off to our boot rooms to get kitted up for the morning’s activities.  As this would be our last full day of activities, we were keen to make the most of it. Those of us who had yet to do the last few activities on the programme had heard so many amazing stories from the others, and we were looking forward to experiencing them for ourselves.

Teams 1 and 7 battled against the wind in their efforts to hit the target in the archery range whilst Teams 2 and 8 braved the elements during their hillwalk. “The weather brought out the best in everyone and despite the rain everyone worked together to achieve success in reaching the summit,” commented Miss Leitch. Mrs Ratcliffe accompanied Team 8 in their trek to the top. “Despite the difficult weather conditions, the children rose to the challenge and the team were determined to reach the peak.”

This morning, it was the turn of Teams 3 and 9 to test their teamworking and problem-solving abilities in the Team Challenges, and Teams 4 and 10 took the plunge with the Gorgewalk. Teams 5 and 11 applied their map-reading skills to their Orienteering challenge and Team 6 finally tackled the High Ropes.

Mrs Lockett was nervous but excited about doing the Gorgewalk with Team 10 today. “I had no need to be nervous as the children encouraged me to face my fears. I was so impressed at the way in which they worked together as a team and adopted such a positive attitude towards reaching their goal.”

Mr Rodgers has also been impressed by the way in which the teams have been working together to support and motivate each other in all the activities. Miss Hall commented, “The children have risen to the challenges they have faced and behaved really well.” Miss McColgan said, “It has been lovely to see the children interacting with each other and having fun outside the school setting. Everyone is having a ball!”

Mrs Sutherland has spent a lot of time working with a variety of groups this week. “As this has been my first time at Castle Toward, I have been thrilled to see how well the children have been working together. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the activities with the P7 pupils and helping them around the Castle. The girls, in particular, have certainly risen to the challenge of dorm inspections!” Mrs Monie said, “It is so nice to see the children having so much fun.”

After lunch, the teams prepared for their final outdoor activities of the week and enjoyed some relaxation time in their dorms or playing outside on the lawn. Dinner consisted of delicious chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce and rice followed by a choice of vanilla, strawberry or mint choc chip ice-cream. After cleaning the dining rooms and setting up for supper, it was time to get ready for the disco! The children had a fantastic time and by supper time, we were all ready for some much-needed sleep!

Day 3 got off to a cheery start with 117 voices ringing round the Green Room with a chorus of Happy Birthday for Hayaan’s birthday! Then it was off to breakfast in either the upstairs or downstairs dining rooms, depending on our teams. We were getting used to our daily routines by now, so after we had finished our toast and cereal, we made our sandwiches and took them to our meeting rooms for our morning meetings.

Team 7 spent the morning taking part in the Team Challenges. Mustafa (P7.28) told us that his team spent quite a bit of time in their meeting room discussing ‘what makes a quality team’ before tackling the challenges. The team agreed that in order to have a quality team, their top three tips would be: 1. Don’t argue; 2. Don’t leave anyone behind; 3. Try to have fun. Lloyd (P7.27) admitted that while this is easy to say in theory, it is a lot more difficult to put into practice when you actually find yourself in a real life problem-solving situation. “We were arguing quite a lot to begin with as everyone had different ideas of what to do. We really need to keep working on that.” Stephen (P7.25) said that “trying to get across the ‘pond’ was fun. I enjoyed trying to work out how to lift up the ‘can of toxic waste’ – we solved that problem pretty quickly.”

Mustafa (P7.28) went on to talk about the Spiderweb challenge.  “We had to work together to get our whole team through a ‘spiderweb’ made out of rope. Stephen went first as he’s quite strong, and then we had to help each other through.” Scott (P7.25) then described how they tackled the Gutterball challenge. “We each had to hold (and keep steady) a piece of plastic guttering and get a ball to travel along our construction. The best way to succeed at this challenge is as soon as the ball leaves your gutter, you have to quickly make your way to the end of the line ready to catch the ball again. If people aren’t ready to catch the ball after it has travelled along your gutter, you have to balance it to keep the ball from rolling off.”

After all the problem solving activities, it was time for a bit of relaxation. Emma (P7.28) enjoyed the rope swing: “We all had a shot; it was fun”. The team also explored the ruins of the original Castle Toward and learned about the history of the feuds between the Lamont and the Campbell clans. They even saw the ancient cave where the prisoners of the clan uprisings were kept!

Energised by our lunches, we went on to our afternoon challenges, which ranged between High Ropes, Orienteering, Gorgewalking, Archery and Hillwalking. Team 6 were lucky to have beautifully sunny afternoon (with a few showers) for their hillwalk to the summit of Buachailean (rising 346m or 1135 feet behind Castle Toward) which encouraged them to develop leadership and map reading skills. Sami (P7.26) and the rest of Team 6 showed great determination and enthusiasm in their ascent to the top of the hill, where we had some spectacular views across to the Isles of Bute, Cumbrae and Arran, looking back to Gourock. On reaching the trig point at the top of the hill (a stone pillar used by the Ordnance Survey to help construct their maps) Raaj (P7.26) exclaimed, “I am so happy to reach the top that I can’t stop smiling!” After a quick descent, hot showers were welcomed by all, and we slipped back into our usual evening routine of dinner, relaxation time (we were lucky enough to have a lovely sunny evening which meant that we could play and relax outside on the Castle lawns), night activities and bed. Calum (P7.26) summed up his experience perfectly: “It’s amazing how many things you can do in one day!”

Hello again!
Attached is Day 2’s blog (from yesterday; Day 3’s blog is obviously still in progress and will be written tonight). Thanks for sending on the email from Mrs McClure, which was read out to all other staff. We also let the children know that we got a lovely email from a parent so they’re all keen to have their quotes included! So as you will see Day’s 2 blog is a wee bit longer. If you could get it on the website this afternoon we’d love to hear of any further feedback!

Thanks,

Mrs Mitchell

“You get a lot of breakfast; it’s good,” said Connor (P7.25) as we started Day 2 at Castle Toward 2012.

 The fun began at 7.30am when dorms were woken up, told to get ready and head down to the Green Room before breakfast. Breakfast consisted of lots of cereal, plenty of toast and even some tea! We were told to keep our plates and knives to make our own rolls and sandwiches for lunch. We had a choice of a variety of fillings: chicken, cheese, tuna, salad and coleslaw, and a bag of crisps, water and fruit. We took our lunch to our meeting rooms and got ready for our morning activities, which varied depending on our teams.

Teams 3 and 9 started off with archery in the walled archery range. Ellie (P7.27) said, “we spent a lot of time going over all the rules. It’s quite hard; you need to keep the arrow pointing down.” Imaan (P7.26) said, “you can tell if you’ve hit a good shot if you see the flight [the brightly coloured top part of the arrow] wobbling in the target board.”

Team 11 spent the morning “facing [our] fears” (Mustafa, P7.28) at the High Ropes (commonly known as ‘the Catwalk’). After the all-important safety chat, we got harnessed up and, one at a time, we climbed up the side of the tree to the first platform. Those of us who wanted to challenge ourselves further tackled the next part of the climb to the highest beam. The shouts of encouragement from our team members below definitely helped to spur us on, with many of us saying that it helped us “to go that wee bit further and try to do [our] best” (Casey, P7.25). Casey, who was interviewed straight after her Catwalk said, “I thought it was really high but I knew I had to do it. The view from the top was great as it was such a nice day, and I felt really good after it.” Faizan (P7.25) went on to say that “it was quite scary and as I was climbing up I felt like falling down, but I decided not to as I was determined to have a go.” Calum (P7.26) admitted that “the hardest bit was climbing up as the blocks [the hand and foot holds attached to the side of the tree] were quite slippy and it was quite tricky selecting the correct block.” Nicole (P7.28) went on to say “I wasn’t really scared at the time but my legs kept wobbling and this made it harder to balance and climb.”

By this time we were all ready for lunch so we enjoyed eating our sandwiches with our teams in our meeting rooms and chatting about the afternoon’s activities.

Teams 3 and 9 were very excited about the gorge walk, which promised to be even more exciting due to the morning’s rainfall. After zipping ourselves up in our wetsuits, we started our watery adventure by plunging our wellies into the gorge. They immediately filled up with cold water, making us gasp! (The beauty of this is that our feet start to act like mini radiators, heating up the water trapped in our wellies. After about five minutes it feels like you’re walking in warm water, which is very pleasant indeed!) Mr Tyler followed us along the gorge taking photos and film footage for his class’s DVD. There were some fantastic examples of teamwork (Connor and Amy, P7.25; Carrie, P7.26) and positive mental attitudes (Scott, P7.27; Jamie, P7.28) along the way. The gorge walk was an amazing experience, and we played lots of games such as making a human dam. Of course, we got VERY wet, so we were all extremely glad to get a hot shower at the end of it!

After showering, we assembled in the Green Room for a quick discussion about the highlights of our day, and then it was dinner time. We had steak pie, pastry, potatoes and carrots with sticky toffee pudding to follow. Then we prepared for our night activities which consisted of Indoor Initiatives (a mixture of problem solving activities which we had to tackle as a team) or a Scavenger Hunt. As we neared the end of our second day we sat down to a supper of juice and flapjacks, exhausted but happy. Most of us settled down to sleep almost straight away, dreaming of doing it all again tomorrow!

 Some other quotes from Day 2:

Fiona (P7.26) liked the challenge of all her activities. Lloyd (P7.27) liked the view from the hillwalk. Jamie (P7.26) said that the catwalk was “scary at first but that [he] was glad that he did it”. Brad (P7.28) said that the hillwalk was amazing. Mustafa (P7.28) prepared himself for the hillwalk by saying he was “up for it”. Kayla (P7.25) enjoyed trying to float in the gorge. Lucy (P7.25) found it funny to see (and do) all the Superman and chicken impressions on the Catwalk.

Hello and welcome to our Castle Toward 2012 blog. Here you will find daily updates on all our adventures from Castle Toward throughout this week.

 Day 1 – Monday 10^th September

The atmosphere in the Street before leaving was amazing; everyone stood around with family and friends, chatting excitedly and hovering beside their cases. Soon it was time to board the bus for Castle Toward 2012!

 “I was a wee bit nervous in the Street but at the same time I was excited because I knew I would have lots of fun and adventures at Castle Toward,” said Connor  (P7.25). “I sat with Lewis and Stephen on the bus. We chatted and played card games.”

 The buses travelled along the motorway to Gourock, where we caught the ferry over to Dunoon and on to Castle Toward. “As soon as I had loaded my case on the bus, I headed straight to the back to sit with my friends. We were all really excited and were singing songs. I played card games with Elliot,” said Scott  (P7.27). “When we arrived at Castle Toward we had to pick up any case from the bus, put it in the White Room and then go to the Green Room where we met the instructors and found out who would be in our dorms. We were given a demonstration on how to make up our own beds!”

Connor’s first impressions of the castle were that it was “really big; there was so much space! I was so excited and I couldn’t wait for the activities to begin.”

 Carrie  (P7.26) and her friends enjoyed getting into the castle and getting settled. “We discussed rules in the Green Room and got our wellies and waterproofs sorted. The castle itself was big and tidy. I was so excited about doing our activities.”

 Amy  (P7.25) describes the afternoon’s activities. “After lunch of baked potato and tuna, beans, cheese and salad, we went for a walk with our activity teams. Our team went for a walk through lots of mud and had a shot on a rope swing. Then we went down to the beach where we were skimming stones and paddling in the water. We found a crab claw and leg. On our way back we played a spider web team game and a ‘screaming game’ where you had to run as far as you can in one scream! After that we had a fire drill and dinner, which was pasta and meatballs and apple crumble with cream. All groups then headed out for the night hike. For the night hike you had to follow a rope which led us through a swamp. For most people the water went in their wellies but I was fortunate that it didn’t go in mine.”

 After a quick supper, everyone went up to their dorms to get ready for bed. It had been a great start to our week at Castle Toward!

We hope the children and staff visiting Castle Toward have a great time next week.

Miss McColgan will send a few updates throughout the week and we will add these to the Latest News section of the website.

Please click on the link below to view the latest Nursery newsletter.

August 2012 Newsletter

Please click on the link below for further information.

Ladies Disco 2012