Outdoor Education
Terrington has an extensive outdoor education programme run by Simon Ferrier who is also the Senior Master and Head of Geography. Simon is highly qualified in a range of adventurous activities including being an advanced senior instructor at kayaking (Level 4 coach) and an International Mountain Leader as well as being a UK Mountain Leader and climbing instructor. Simon has 20 years of experience climbing, kayaking and hang gliding mainly in Europe but also Australia, Canada and the U.S.A
The programme at Terrington is progressive with pupils in Year 3 onwards getting the opportunity to canoe, climb, orienteer and participate in mountain walking. The outdoor programme is an aspect of school that appeals to all pupils and is something that they can all succeed at, resulting in improvements in self confidence, self-esteem and a greater awareness of their environment. The kayaking in particular is progressed to a very high level with the opportunity to gain BCU star awards, take part in canoe slalom as well as tackle some challenging UK and Alpine rivers.
The skills learnt are used to get the maximum benefit out of the two expeditions, which form a large part of Years 7, and 8 at Terrington. In Year 7 pupils spend a week in the Ardeche, France, paddling a variety of rivers before embarking on a 2 day descent of the 30km Ardeche Gorge as a self-sufficient group. This involves an overnight bivi in the gorge and progress is reported back to school via the school website.
In Year 8 an advanced group visit the Southern French Alps having trained all year to paddle some classic Alpine rivers such as the Guil and Ubaye. The area is also a rock-climbing mecca with literally 100’s of climbs suitable for school groups. Mountain walking in the nearby Ecrins National Park provides the opportunity to see glaciers and some diverse Alpine fauna and flora. The 2007 group will also be whitewater rafting on the Durance River and taking part in a classic via ferrata which involves scrambling whilst attached to cables and ladders.
Beginner canoe sessions are held in the school pool and then progress to the local River Derwent. More advanced sessions take place at Howsham Weir, the River Ure and the River Tees.
The outdoor education programme follows all the latest guidelines on Health and Safety of Pupils on Educational Visits. It is hugely popular with pupils and parents the latter of which have helped to raise funds to ensure that our equipment is modern and user friendly. Staff and parents have also helped enormously to ensure the success of the programme, particularly the residential trips.
Click here for the Ardeche Diary - First Sortie
Click here for the Ardeche Diary - Second Sortie
Ardeche Diary - First Sortie
Day One
We were woken up at 2.30 am with groanings and moanings. We got on the coach and arrived at the airport 2 hours early! Along the way we were entertained by Connor singing John Lennon songs - badly. (Just as well they weren't flying from John Lydon Airport - Ed.) Gilly's bag was overweight and Venetia's make up bag weighed 1kg. So she wore 5 tops instead to get the weight down. Miss Simons' tent was taken back to check in as an unidentified terrorist weapon.
We finally got on the plane.
Miss Simons: Who wants to play hearts?
Scottie: I will if you each us.
Miss Simons: I can't remember how to play.
Connor: Wow look out of the window!
Miss Simons: It looks like clouds
We arrived safely and found Mr Ferrier waiting for us. Rosie saw the canoes in the van and asked: "Did you drive here?" Mr Ferrier replied: "No it's James Bond's car - I drove it under water". "Really?" asked Rosie.
On the way to the campsite we stopped in a lay-by. Who found the best spot for a nature pee? It was Conan. When we arrived at the campsite the boys quickly put up the food marquee (surely you mean the Big Cook Little Cook Café? - Ed.) whilst Rosie and Laurie put the tent poles together. Then we went to the restaurant for tea and then we all went to bed.
Today's report was written by
Laura Barron, Rosie Cordingley and Connor Wallace.
Day Two
We woke up after terrible storms last night. Group 1 kayaked down the mini-descent. In the middle of the river after the first rapids Laura asked: "Do we paddle back now Sir, I'm tired?" To this, Mr Ferrier felt disinclined to vouchsafe a reply.
When Group 1 got back we all had lunch and then Group 2 left. Miss Simons capsized dramatically, the only one and she now has to buy all the staff drinks. Approaching the enormous Pont D'Arche Gilly asked: "Is this the arch,Sir?". Mr Ferrier was strangely silent on this one too.
When everyone was back we all went to the campsite pool. It was freezing cold! (so much for being toughened up on the playing fields of North Yorkshire - Ed!). We squirted Venetia with water pistols. Rosie fell down at least a million stairs - ouch! (I believe she's OK, Mr and Mrs Cordingley, as she dictated the report amidst floods of giggles - Ed.)
Then we had tea!
Mr Ferrier: Are you enjoying this soup?
Scottie: Is it soup then?
Mr Ferrier:
We also found out that Mr Ferrier is a plus 4 gorilla. (is that like an alpha-male? Ed.)
Today's report was written by:
Laura Barron and Rosie Cordingley
Day 3
We all got up after a reasonable night and went to Chassezac, a tributary of the Ardèche. The river was slightly longer than the mini-descent will be and the rapids were a higher grade than any other Year 7 group has canoed (due to the much higher water levels).
After some slow but hardly steady paddling one of the Canadian canoes, containing, but in no ordinary sense under the control of, Laura and Maccy D, completely wiped out the even-more-completely unprepared Conan, and almost Miles. This resulted in Conan deciding that a short swim with the fishes was preferable to wearing Laura and Maccy D's Canadian canoe for the rest of the afternoon. The tranquillity of the river already shattered, suddenly Gilly came flying out of the rapids like a complete nutter! He barged into both Connor and Rosie and ended up half way under water. He managed to pull himself up and pretended that he had meant to do that all along. Michael unfortunately was not so lucky. Coming next through the rapids he copied Gilly's manoeuvre almost perfectly other than the final part of it where he had managed to stay afloat and he joined Conan in the water.
Just before lunch we approached a large rapid which Fuzzy confidently came down sideways..
he laughed..
...he tipped
and he dunked.
Then it was lunch and Blundy, being very protective, decided to build a dam to keep his new wet suit boots dry.
Afterwards we headed downstream again. A few metres down Mr Ferrier warned us to watch out for jumping frogs. Laura looked bewildered and excited. Later down the river we saw some French people jumping off the rocks but we never got to see the frogs Mr Ferrier told us about.
We got out of the river and carried the canoes, with some speedy carrying from Miles and Scottie, to the pick up point. When we got back Anthony went to buy some after-sun lotion. Worried that he had bought the wrong thing, he asked Miss Simons to translate what it said on the bottle. Miss Simons said "It says after-sun milk". "Oh" said Blundy "does that mean you have to drink it?"
Today's report was written by:
Miles Duncan, Edward Scott and Max Gill
Day 4
At last the sun shone. It was off to Balazuc for some climbing and much needed shopping. Georgia was undecided whether to partake due to her broken finger [rounders is far more dangerous than kayaking S.F.]. She then cruised up all three grades of climbs effortlessly. Harry who does not cry over spilt milk [soya variety] overcame his fears and knocked off several routes.
After a swim in the river it was back to the campsite to prepare for our demanding expedtion which starts in the morning. The river is higher than normal which will make for an exciting two days. Fortunately the daily storms have calmed down and the forecast is much better.
The staff have been extremely professional, dedicated and have worked tirelessly.
Report by: Liz Cole, Julie MacDonald, Tony Dixon, Annabelle Symons and Simon Ferrier
Day 6
We had to wake up early, ready for the big day ahead. Mrs Cole, Mr Ferrier, Mr Dixon, Mrs Macdonald and Miss Symons managed to pack everything, organise canoes and barrels and drive the car all the way to the bivvy site and back in just under 2 and a half hours (amazing)!
When everything was ready and sorted we set off down the river to start our long and hard (but fun) descent. Our first big rapid was the Charlemagne which Scotty and Gilly went down backwards and on which Venetia and Maccy D capsized.
We managed to finish the mini-descent in record breaking time (compared to when we did it on Tuesday). But then we had to go on! We stopped for lunch and then our next main rapid was the Trois Eaux, which, even though there was quite a big drop, nobody capsized on.
After the Trois Eaux it was the Dent Noire, a dangerous rapid if you got caught the wrong side of the rocks....luckily nobody did and afterwards most people mentioned how boring it was.
Mr Ferrier had to rescue some French people who got caught in the rocks as well as a couple who capsized just before the rapid. After that there were a couple of more smaller rapids and then we arrived at Gaud Bivouac. After we had tied up the canoes and put away the rest of the equipment Scotty dashed off to the toilet with Venetia and Rosie not far behind!
The heroes were Mrs Macdonald, Mr Ferrier and Miss Symons after they trekked up the hill to the car for the sleeping mats and cooking materials.
All the staff who had been on the trip before remarked how nice and quiet the bivvy site was compared to the one they usually go to, even though it meant you had to travel further on the second day. Mr Dixon cleverly managed to get the barbecue working and because of him the rest of the staff could enjoy a hot meal at the end of the day.
We settled down in our sleeping bags and Venetia named all the clouds and stars after people (i.e Princess Venetia).
Today's report was written by Georgie Latham.
Ardeche Diary - Second Sortie
Here is the report for Day One from the Second Sortie.
We had a more civilised start than the last group as we left at 8 am. Everyone was stuffing their faces with sweets and within 10 minutes Jake had thrown up. Jake said "note to self - never mix coke and millions". (Drinking a bottle of coke in less than 10 seconds probably had more to do with it - Ed.) Woody amused everyone with his Harry Enfield/ Nelson Mandela impressions - "let us get totally muntered"!
We arrived at the airport, all wearing our pink Ardeche polo shirts, with everybody very excited and hyper after all those sweets. At the check-in queue we saw a load of woman wearing pink cowboy hats. Richard asked Miss Evans why they were wearing those. Miss Evans said "they're probably going to a hen party". Richard said "I thought they must be lesbians". "Why?" said Miss Evans. "Because they are wearing pink hats - anyone who wears pink is a lesbian". Miss Evans asked him what colour T-shirt he was wearing.
Sophie won the prize for the most incredibly packed and lowest weight case. She says her mum packed it for her.
We all got on to the aeroplane and all sat together. The group on the left was shouted at for being loud. The group on the right was thanked by the parent of a small child for being so quiet on the flight. Same row - very different experience.
When we landed the first thing we saw was the horrible sight of the first group waving at us. When we realised that they were going home and we were just arriving we made "loser" signs at them.
On the journey to the campsite Heather, high on Red Bull, was giving Mr Green a quiz. The first question was what was his favourite song? Mr Green said "that's a hard one - my favourite song of all time?". Heather said "No, not from yooour time, from ours". When Mr Green asked Heather when she thought he had been born she said "in the Eighties". Olivia said 1903.
The girls got to the campsite first (because Mr Green was driving) leaving Harrison and Woody with the small tent and Stefan and Angus with the ant-infested tent. Easterby had the biggest tent, we could hear him inside saying "poop,poop!".
Tree was screaming because she found a caterpillar in her tent. Heather stood there with a look of confusion until she realised the caterpillar was right in front of her.
We all went to the pool and had a massive water-bomb fight and someone shouted "all on Harrison!". But that was because he had started it.
We had a delicious meal at the site restaurant and Jake finished off Sophie's, Olivia's and Harrison's but finally refusing Heather's offer.
After that we all went back to the camp and got into our tents. Mr Ferrier says he does not expect to hear from us until 8 am tomorrow morning , French time. Olivia says "good luck with that".
And some late news just in - Jake has just thrown up in Fuzzy's tent.
Today's report was written by Heather, Olivia, Sophie and Triana.
This is the report for Day 2.
We woke up early in the morning (6 am) to hear screams from Stefan, and shortly afterwards from the staff, about a hornet. We were told to get back into bed and then we all woke up again at 8. Unfortunately Miss Symons heard voices and thought it was 8 am so got up and got changed.
After the lovely breakfast the first group got on the river and set off on the mini-descent and the second group went to the pool.
After enduring some small rapids with shouts of glee from Richard and Hartrey we entered our first rapid. We passed through smoothly and then we practised turning in a "subtle" movement by sticking our paddle in the water. Then we came up to our first major rapid and we were told to stay by the ed,edd n eddy but most of us failed to do so. Everyone passed through safely except for Hartrey who was the first one to take a dip.
Then we came to the Charlemagne rapid which was named after Harry Willis's first son. Easterby passed through safely but then a French couple in a Canadian capsized so we all had to wait two hours whilst Mr Ferrier and Mr Green rescued them. They were heavily traumatised. Everyone passed through safely, if not necessarily along the orthodox line which Mr Ferrier had told them to follow, except for Richard who mistook the rapids for rocks and decided it was safer to row straight into a tree and then capsized.
We made a safe journey through the arch, which everyone thought was stunning.
The second group spent the morning generally mucking about in the pool. Then we went to the shop and the arcade.
After lunch the first group headed off to the pool to chill out. We also mucked about and then went to the shop to buy water guns and Miss Evans ended up a little wetter than she wanted to be.
The second group set out on the mini-descent. 5 were in kayaks and Jake was in the Canadian with Mr Dixon - it was awesome.
Everyone made it down all the rapids without any problem and nobody capsized. Mr Ferrier was surfing in the Charlemagne rapid.
At the end of the day everyone had a great time and looked forward to tomorrow.
Quotes of the day:
When about to enter the mini-descent Mr Ferrier told us to head off to the crocodile which looked like a rock and then to the beach. Harrison said "is there a crocodile in the water?"
Jake saw a two man canoe and said "oh look - there's a Canadian". Hartrey said "how can you tell they're Canadian".
On asking how we were getting back from the mini-descent Miss Evans explained that it was a circular route and we paddled clockwise until we came back to where we had started from. A large number of canoeists were surprised not to see the marquee when we arrived at the landing site and asked how long the walk was back to the campsite.
Mr Green was being teased about the size of his tent and explained that the six foot high ceiling in the east wing was to accommodate his power shower. Triana replied "I don't think you would need it but maybe it is for Mrs Green."
Hartrey has just come into the marquee and asked Mr Ferrier if 6 of them could sleep in Fuzzy's tent tonight. Mr Ferrier's first response was "I don't think so" but remembering that it was sound medical practice to quarantine all diaorrhea and nausea victims in one place said "be my guest".
Today's report was written by Richard and Jake.
On Day 3 we all set off to travel to Chassezac, a tributary of the Ardeche.
We paddled down through some calm water until we reached the first rapid, where Olivia said she was tired and someone else asked "are we nearly there yet?". Everybody got through the rapid really well. Then we came to the Rapide de Chassagnes which was really beefy, according to Mr Ferrier, but we all made it down without any problem. Unfortunately a Belgian family didn't find it so easy, they hit a rock and capsized and had to be rescued by Mr Green and Mr Dixon. We are considering charging for this service in future.
Then we stopped for lunch. After we had had our sandwiches we demonstrated our own understanding of defensive swimming. This involved going down the rapid head first with our bottoms bouncing over the rocks or feet first with our legs wide apart. Mr Ferrier said that it was good except that we had done everything completely wrongly.
After a few more rapids Mr Ferrier showed us how to do defensive swimming properly. First we had to swim down the river on our back as if we had capsized and break out into the ed, edd or eddy. After doing that a few times we practised swimming on our backs whilst a member of staff threw the rope to us to catch. Miss Symons had 3 attempts and missed every one. (Was it a coincidence that Stefan also had 3 goes and every time it was Miss Symons turn at throwing the rope?). She will need to do better if she is going to provide good leadership.
Mr Ferrier said "have you all got enough energy to paddle another 3 km". William Hartrey said "I don't think so". 5 minutes later we pulled into the beach and it took another 5 minutes to realise that Mr Ferrier was pulling our leg. (As if! - Ed.) Jake did the final leg in a kayak. Mr Ferrier said that everyone has done really well and he was really pleased with our progress today.
When we got back we all went swimming in the pool.
For dinner Big Cook and Little Cook cooked us chilli con carne which we ate on tables with white linen table cloths and candles in wine bottles.
Quotes of the day
Angus told Jake that last year Caril thought there was air-conditioning in the tent and Jake said "is there?".
Breaking news: today the French refuse collectors called a one day strike and we returned from the Chassezac to find the all the rubbish from the camp site had been dumped in Fuzzy's tent. We attempted to remove it but the 6 occupants asked us to leave it there as it masked the smell from last night.
Today's report was written by Stefan and Angus.
Day 4
We woke to hear horrific stories of bugs in people's tents, sleeping bags and other places. We started packing for the two-day descent. William Hartrey thought we were packing for the two-week descent and was promptly sent back to his tent by Mr Ferrier. Heather thought we were going to Paris as she had packed all her fashionable clothes.
We started the descent and Stefan decided to swim just before the Charlemagne rapid. At Charlemagne we watched loads of French and German people getting caught in the rocks and capsizing. Mr Green had to rescue a very panicky French woman who tried to climb up onto the front of his kayak in her desperation to get out of the water.
We then stopped for lunch of cheese and ham baguettes and for a short swim. We then paddled through lots of rapids which everybody managed really well. We then stopped to do some rock jumping and climbed up to a large rock over-hanging the river. Everybody jumped in and Stefan touched the bottom.
We arrived at the bivvy site at 4 pm and found a great spot with a large emergency 20 man tent in case it rained. We were a bit conerned that the large tent next to us was labelled for Mon. Allemand as we had passed a roudy group of German canoeists earlier. But from our vantage point high above the river we saw them paddle on to the next site a few minutes later. In the end Mon. Allemand never arrived.
After we had collected some firewood Big Cook and Little Cook, ably assisted by their sous-chefs Triana and William E, cooked a fantastic meal of penne rigate in a tomato and mascarpone sauce with onions, bacon, petit pois and chorizo finished off with croutons and shavings of fresh parmesan. (Sorry - Little Cook took over the writing of this bit - Ed.) (But I am the Ed. - Little Cook). Harrison said "this hasn't been like proper camping - the food's too good".
After the meal a minor incident erupted concerning Mr Ferrier's tent (which he had brought especially for himself although officially it was there as an emergency in case anyone else needed it). After two hours of tortured testimony presided over by Judge Advocate General Dixon it was ruled that the following chain of events had taken place though this continues to be hotly denied by all (guilty) parties:
Just before dinner Harrison had been collecting creepy crawlies. Judge Dixon was unable to establish the exact motive for this but at some point Miss Evans and Miss Symons became aware of this activity and enlisted Stefan to help him to find some juicier ones with the sole intent of placing them in Mr Ferrier's tent. Having sent them back a few times because their bugs were not big enough, when they finally appeared with some really enormous spiders and a beetle and asked whether these were good enough to put in Mr Ferrier's tent Miss Evans, and this was the source of considerable dispute between the one-time partners in crime, gave either a double thumbs up (pupils' version) or a totally non-commital shrug of the shoulders (Miss Evans' version).
Having found all parties guilty Judge Dixon, in a rare legal precedent, handed sentencing to the victim. Mr Ferrier intended to extract maximum discomfort in choosing his sentence by letting the guilty parties know their punishment only when it was actually happening to them. This set off a strange series of events where a number of things were to happen in the night and the following day, not only to Harrison, Stefan, Miss Evans and Miss Symons but also, on the principle of attack being the best from of defence, to Mr Ferrier himself.
The full extent of these tit-for-tat practical jokes will be revealed tomorrow in our special report "The Strange Incident of the Frog in the Night Time".
At 10 pm we settled down to sleep in the large emergency tent. Miss Evans and Miss Symons settled down to sleep in Mon.Allemand's emergency tent, Mr Ferrier settled down to sleep in his private emergency tent and Mr Green and Mr Dixon settled down to sleep in their sleeping bags under the stars.
(Special report from base camp for those you concerned about Fuzzy's tent - Mrs Macdonald inadvertently trapped a red squirrel and a couple of cockroaches in the tent and an hour later found the squirrel's decomposing body and the cockroaches on their backs with their legs in the air)
Quote of the day from Miss Evans: "It's all lies".
Today's report was written by Miles Woodbridge and Harrison Medley (towards the end somewhat distracted by being scared completely witless at the propsect of what Mr Ferrier had in mind for him) with help, in understanding the legal documentation, from Mr Green.
Day 6
We woke up at 2 in the morning with an horrendous storm with huge flashes of lightning right above our head. Sophie was going down the Ardeche rapid in her tent. Heather said "I love you Mum, Dad, Tom and James". Triana managed to sleep through it until Heather woke her up hugging her to say a final goodbye. Triana said "shut up". We could hear all the boys scream, especially Stefan and Harrison (but not as loudly as Mr Ferrier screamed when the caterpillar was down his back).
Because of the storm and the rain, which carried on until the morning it was too dangerous to go climbing so we went shopping in Vallon instead.
The girls spent 15 minutes in the first shop before exploring the rest of town. When we came back we all had about 20 bags each having visited a lot of shops called "Je Vous Voyais Venant".
We got back to the campsite and decided to go swimming. Triana splashed a water bomb at Miss Symons but it bounced off. While Sophie and Olivia were sunbathing Richard picked up Sophie and threw her into the pool. Olivia, who was lying next to her, didn't notice until she heard the splash and then she went back to sleep. Sophie thought the pool was too cold so decided to get out. Heather offered to help and then pushed her in again. When Harrison genuinely helped her out Heather pushed her in again. Then she finally got out, whilst Miss Symons and Miss Evans were laughing.
After that we all had to go to pack up our tents. Once everything was packed away including the marquee (Woody remarked after being back at the camp for about an hour "hey - where's the marquee?") we sat at our table and ate a meal of pizza and chips.
We all had to go to bed early because we were getting up at 5.30 tomorrow so we were sent to bed at 9 pm after our showers and told to go straight to sleep without talking. We were still talking at 11 pm when we heard a strange sound outside our tent. When we looked out we saw that cling film had been stretched between the trees that separated our tent from the boys'.
In the morning we asked Mr Green what the cling film was for. He said "it was to stop the bugs". We asked if it had been put up every night. Mr Green said "no, it was only put up last night to stop the female bugs from getting into the male bugs' tents". Triana said "That wasn't our plan". Mr Green said "No, we knew that, your plan was to meet the male bugs at the toilet block. The cling film was so we could hear you leaving. We are not as stupid as we look you know."
Today's report was written by Heather, Triana, Olivia and Sophie.
Day 7
After our remarks last night such as "we don't need to go to bed early, we can all get up early without any problem" when we were woken up at 5.30 am we are big enough to admit that that was not the case.
We should have tried our new Nelson Mandela Viagra-pops - guaranteed to get you up in the morning.
When we came to clear out Fuzzy's we thought that we should actually take back our apology from two days ago. Not only did it look like it had been thrown up in, had the campsite's refuse dumped in it and a dead squirrel and cockroaches decomposing in it but it also looked like a stream of human traffic and half a tonne of raw sewage had passed through it. Mr Green said we needed a sign outside saying "Sangatte Refugee Camp". (We have since cleaned it up Mr and Mrs Hudson).
When we left the owner of the campsite told us we must come again next year because 1) we were so well behaved and 2) he had never sold so many sweets in a single fortnight.
We had also made a new best friend at the campsite called Lups (pronounced Loops).
As soon as we got in the car everyone fell asleep. Triana was so fast asleep that when we got to Nimes airport it was impossible to wake her up and we told Stefan that she had slipped into a coma on the journey. She is OK now but she is living in 1973 and enjoying the type of music which Mr Green likes. Woody also fell asleep and says that he was totally muntered.
On the flight Olivia and Sophie gave Harrion (aka Tiffany Wilson) a make-over. Richard pointed out every cloud type to Woody (do I get a Geography commendation Mr Ferrier? Richard)
Now we are on the coach after a fantastic time and want to thank Mr Ferrier, Miss Evans, Miss Symons, Mrs Macdonald, Mrs Cole, Mr Dixon and Mr Green for all their help in making it a great trip.
The adults would like to thank the children for being extremely well-behaved, hard-working, polite, well-mannered and such excellent company. They also handled the canoeing extremely well.
Our best memories are:
Everything!
The kayaking and the two-day descent
Richard wearing Miss Evans's bra as a dare
Heather's songs about Mr Green in the car
Sophie's face when she fell in the pool
Little Cook wearing his tight pink Ardeche top
Woody's impressions of Nelson Mandela
Having a water-pistol duel
Caterpillars
The beautiful scenery
Buying presents for our families
Having €70 to spend
Meeting Lups
Giving Harrison a make-over
Seeing Miss Evans at 16 in her passport photo
Rowing (sorry - cheating in) the kayak race with Mr Ferrier (Little Cook)
The argument about who put bugs in Mr Ferrier's tent and why (Miss Evans has since admitted being behind the whole thing right from the start!)
This is Year 7 signing off from our first and last Ardeche trip.
P.S we were better than the first group!