Last Thursday 10th January was the Primary 7's first Adventure Club Day. There was great excitement all week in the build up to our first adventure. When the Instructors from Tollymore National Outdoor Centre arrived in school to pick us up, the children couldn't wait to get onto the bus. Once we arrived and everyone was suited and booted in the correctly sized gear, we had our first lesson on mapwork in the grounds of the centre. Then it was out into the forest to put into practice the skills of "setting the map" to match what was on the ground, working from the scale to calculate how far things were apart and then using a wide selection of map symbols to guide us on our way. Mr Knight, Miss Morgan and all of the Instructors were very impressed with the application of skills and the level of cooperation and focus. Some of the pupils then turned Teacher when they gave the adults a lesson on the use of arches to construct solid bridges which have stood the test of time. There must always be time to stop, sit down and have a bite to eat while out among nature. We also put into practice our knowledge of "Leave no Trace" by carrying every piece of waste out with us that we carried into the forest. The children successfully navigated us all back to the centre in the dark and with a bit of work over the next few weeks back at school we will be ready to put our navigational skills to use on the mountains the next day.
