By Mrs Cruse (Head of Years 7 and 8)

On Thursday 28th September, Year 8 set off to Cople Fields, full of high spirits, enjoying the walk from school through the Bedfordshire countryside to start their team-building challenge day. 

Upon arrival at Cople Fields, the students were divided into 11 teams, and the day's challenge was unveiled. They had to evaluate each activity they completed based on teamwork, communication, planning and their success in completing the task. 

The students had to honestly score themselves and collectively determine their strengths as a team. The laughter, cheers, and encouragement echoing across the field were infectious. They all relished the challenge, particularly the "passing the baton" challenge, which involved passing a baton across a widening gap. The rules prohibited throwing or dropping the baton and no member of their team could touch the ground in the gap. Initially straightforward, as the gap widened, each team devised ingenious ways to pass the baton to the other side. As teams were eliminated, they enthusiastically cheered on the remaining ones. Overall, Year 8 displayed exceptional team spirit and had a lot of fun, creating many joyful memories along the way. 

Sienna Leith (Year 8) said: “I loved the day at Cople. It was extremely fun, and I got to try some new activities with my friends that I’d never even heard of. My favourite activity was the ski walk as we all worked together really well, even though it was quite hard.” 

Olivia Deverill (Year 8) added: “I really enjoyed the walk in the morning as it was refreshing and enjoyable. Once we got there, I was with all my friends and some new people that I bonded with well. My group came 2nd overall. 

“I absolutely loved the game we did three times because we had to trust our friends (I was an inch away from the floor) to try and pass a baton to the other half of our team. However, we had to stay behind two pieces of rope, which got longer and longer, and our best score out of three games, my team and I came 3rd! It was my favourite activity of the day, and this trip is a great way to start the year.”