Jurby Community School have recently returned from their annual Wilderness Expedition, once again in partnership with Adventureology.
The aim of the expedition was to develop the children’s independence, resilience, teamwork and self trust, by supporting them to step outside their comfort zone and experience challenges that would push them both physically and mentally in a supportive, but challenging manner.
On June 24, thirteen children and four mentors, set off for the small village of Lowick at the south end of Coniston Water in the Lake District.
The base for the week was close to Coniston Water which enabled children to the use of lake and surrounding fells for most of the groups activities.
Jurby School
The first full day saw the children learn to rock climb like Ninja Warriors, practicing their moves on the ground before they took to the rock face.
After a safety briefing which included a demonstration of what to do in an emergency, climbing began.
Many aspects of rock climbing involve trust, as the climber needs to trust their belay team to help them spot the best moves, coach them up the rock, before lowering them back down.
Some of the group were nervous at first, but by the end of the session they had all climbed the pitch and with support belayed their friends.
Adventurers
During the course of the adventure they climbed to the top of the Old Man of Coniston over 800m in height.
Many of the children were ‘experienced mountaineers’, having climbed Goat Fell on the Isle of Arran last year and so were aware that the main challenge would be mental rather than physical.
The group worked as one to support and encourage each other to the top.
The day itself was hot and with this in mind the leadership team had planned the route back down to pass ‘The Doup’ a small tarn where a wild swim took place.
Many of the children rated this as the highlight of their trip as it was an unexpected surprise for them.
Wilderness Expedition
The next day a rafted canoe journey took place along Coniston, this was a first for all the group as it was not an activity they had done before.
With strong winds forecast a plan was made with the children to journey upwind along the side of the lake before lunch, using the natural shelter of the hills.
This first half of the journey involved them digging deep into their physical strength to power against the wind.
Team Work
Headmaster of Jurby School, Will Nelson, said ‘many of the pupils found this much harder than they had first imagined and once again the Leadership team coached them both physically and mentally to overcome negative thoughts and make them believe in themselves and the power of working as a team’.
After lunch the trip back to base was downwind and the children saw how the power of nature could be harnessed to their advantage with a ferry glide across the lake, which involved steering strokes rather than power strokes.
Other ‘mini adventures’ included a trip to Rydal caves, Grizedale forest, a wild swim every day and navigating Asda in order to buy all the food that would be needed for the group.
During the time they were away the children worked with the staff to prepare, cook and clean away all their meals, whilst also coping with a ‘digital detox’.
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