On Friday the 6^th of September, we had our school sponsored walk. For those of you who don’t know, this is an annual event and is the main occasion each year for raising school funds. All year groups in our school take part and, in total, the walk is around 10 kilometres long. The route of our journey is the long, winding, and often fairly muddy, path of the Greenock Cut which begins at Overton. Fortunately, just as we are getting very tired and desperately in need of some food, we are given a break half way along the walk at the Greenock Cut Visitor’s Centre.

This year’s walk was quite the contrast to the previous ones which I’ve been a part of as it was a very hot and sunny day. All of our recent sponsored walks have involved our pupils layering up in heavy raincoats and coming prepared with umbrellas but there was no need for any of that this year. In the fantastic weather that we had, the views along our route were truly spectacular. I know some of you might find that hard to believe about Inverclyde but trust me, it was great.

One of the best things about the sponsored walk each year is that the S6s, like myself, do the entire walk in fancy dress and this year’s costumes were certainly some of the best, if I do say so myself. Across the Greenock Cut that day, many spotted a crowd of Smurfs, your favourite characters from Shrek, Dorothy and her friends form the Wizard of Oz, a few Barbie Dolls and even Elvis Presley. It was quite a bizarre day.

Everyone put so much effort into their costumes but what was it like doing such a long walk in fancy dress? I was able to speak to a few of our S6s about what they wore and their experiences of the journey. Here’s what they told me:

“It was a very fun day. I did a Star Trek costume and it was a group theme with three of my friends. It was comfortable to wear, yeah, although I did have to roll my sleeves up as it was a very hot day. My favourite part was when we stopped at the Visitor’s Centre and got to meet up with everyone else.”

– Euan S, 6E

“It was good because we got to do loads of exercise and had to walk for quite a while. I liked seeing the cool waterfall as it was nice and did have water, unlike sometimes. It was nice and sunny and stayed dry so it wasn’t all windy and rainy, unlike previous sponsored walks, and it didn’t have to get delayed like last year.”

– Iris P, 6D

“We were so lucky with the weather! It was almost too good, a bit too hot. I actually didn’t think the walk was as bad as I remembered it being when I was younger. I went as Sol Goodman from Breaking Bad and I was really happy that everyone dressed up in S6 because I was kinda worried that people weren’t gonna go full out.”

– Freya L, 6E

“The weather was absolutely beautiful, I’m happy it wasn’t raining. My friends and I all went as Barbies, it was amazing! Everyone all had quite different costumes. The walk felt super long but I think that’s just because I was in a dress and it was so hot. I think my favourite costume had to be Noah and his friends who dressed up as Disney Princesses, they were amazing.”

– Emily P, 6D

“I thought it was really good this year. I’m glad the weather was nice and it wasn’t raining. It’s a shame it was the last one for us because I’ll miss it after I leave school. I enjoyed dressing up for it. Emma’s costume idea was really good so I’m glad I went with her. My favourite moment of the walk was towards the end as I liked when we were walking downhill.”

– Campbell M, 6E

It’s clear that this year’s was definitely one of the best sponsored walks we’ve had and, like Campbell, I’m also upset that this was my last with Clydeview Academy. Hopefully next year’s S6s have costumes as good as ours.

Article by Jack Ramsay, Head Boy