We love it when our pupils practise their journalistic flair. Here, the Year 4s give an honest review of their New Barn residential trip.

The New Barn trip was by far the most exciting and fun trip we had ever been on. As the coach pulled away from school, we were excited with a few butterflies in our tummies. Year 4 was setting off on a very big adventure…our first residential trip!

First of all, we arrived at the Jurassic coast, where the cliffs were like a layer cake of greys and browns. A very intelligent expert showed us the perfect place to look for belemnites and ammonites.  Once we got to New Barn, excitement was in the air as we discovered who we were sharing dorms with. After supper, we learnt about ‘bygones’, acting out the real and fake use of bygones for other teams to guess the correct use; then we collected our torches for a magical night safari, where we saw a stag and some very sleepy sheep! Delicious hot chocolates ended the day.

Day two started with a treat of running around in the emerald green grass. Some lucky people got to feed the adorable lambs! We did orienteering, wacky team games involving co-operation and listening skills, and climbing – one of our favourite activities. Beefy burgers around a burning campfire, together with silly songs, ended the day.

On our final morning, a ferry took us to Brownsea Island, which was like a miniature kingdom ruled by red squirrels. After this adventure, we set off back to school, where an excited group of parents waited to welcome us home. New Barn was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we absolutely loved it!

By three Year 4s