On Thursday 5 October, Year 5s headed to Giggleswick School for the day to take part in the Gigg Challenge. The children were in a buoyant mood, meaning that Beth Holliday and I enjoyed the pleasure of them singing ‘Barbie Girl’ in full voice on the minibus as we headed down the M6. (Beth very wisely came prepared with treats for the journey which sadly meant the children had to stop singing from time to time to chew on something sweet.)
The children enjoyed an action-packed day, working in teams of five to complete various challenges. One of the groups started the morning with a robotics challenge, which required them to program a BBC micro:bit robotic car to navigate its way through a maze, with bonus points awarded for making the car play music and light-up along the way. Another challenge that the children completed in the morning involved them making their own carbon-dioxide fire extinguishers in a science lab by mixing different carbonates and acids. After a few trials, some of which resulted in something more akin to foam fire extinguisher with the mixture bubbling excitedly out of the beaker, the children found the best carbonate-acid combination and were able to put out a tea-light snake using their fire extinguishers.
Over the course of the day the children enjoyed a myriad of different challenges including everything from sports skills to drama, triathlon to Combined Cadet Force, and art to climbing. All of the Year 5s thoroughly enjoyed the day. I was extremely proud of them as they worked incredibly well in their teams, supporting and encouraging each other throughout the day. The Hunter Hall team finished second overall out of the six prep school teams that took part, with Lucy M given special recognition for her outstanding performance in drama, and George and Toby awarded for their excellent teamwork and enthusiasm in robotics.