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Posted on February 25th 2013
Inaugural Federation G&T Yr 7 residential
This February saw the inaugural Federation G&T Yr 7 residential. The weekend long event involved five of our Harris City Academy students being joined by others from the likes of Harris Merton and Harris East Dulwich Girls as they made the two hour long bus ride to the Essex countryside and the Cardfields Centre. The purpose of the weekend was to provide our G&T students the opportunity to employ their puzzle solving skills and develop their academic strengths – as well as make new friends!
Departing from our Academy late on Friday afternoon, the 32 excited Harris students were greeted by the lead lecturer who led them to the activity centre where they were informed of their duties (light cleaning after meal time) and their bedrooms arrangements. With only 30 minutes to organise themselves, the eager Year 7s had to make their way to their rooms, which were all named after birds such as magpie and wren, and meet their roommates for the weekend. Introductions over, students assembled at 8pm for ice breaking activities and safety procedures.
Small groups of randomly selected students were given “something” to act out. The students were not allowed to talk to the audience but were told that they must use their bodies either statically or dynamically to provide the audience with enough visual stimuli to guess the “something”.
Waking up bright and early on Saturday our students faced a whole day of activities with enthusiasm and curiosity. They were definitely spoilt for choice, with a plethora of fun tasks to keep them entertained including learning everything from sign language and Morse code to how the weather works and philosophical conundrums.
When it came to heading back to Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon there were more than one or two sad faces. Over the course of the weekend, not only had the children been able to develop their skills but, as hoped, they had also made some life-long friends.
Miss Feasey
