Last week, staff and students from Stour Valley braved the elements for a brief foray into camping and adventure activities. After loading the coaches with our much-needed equipment and a briefing by the well-experienced Mr Craig, Year 7 and 8 students set off to Brentwood to visit the 96-acre woodland owned by the International Scouts Association.

Upon arrival and after a quick inspection of the tenting accommodation, we were straight into our woodland activities of abseiling, crate stacking, axe throwing, water rollers, ziplining, leap of faith and more. In true British fashion, the heavens opened the moment we put on our harnesses, but with grit and determination we carried on through the winds and rain. After two hours of tackling our fears and the possibility of trench foot, we returned to camp for some lunch and dry clothes. Fortunately, the weather was on our side for our second outing of the day to complete yet more activities working in teams to support and help each other through the dizzying heights of rock wall climbing and the speed of cresta run and pedal cart racing.

A well-earned dinner of pasta and brownies saw us into some evening downtime where students settled in to their tents, played ball games and secured their evening snacks so as not to be disturbed by the fox population currently residing in the forest. Despite our best efforts, we had some midnight visitors rustling at tent doors, quickly moved on by Mr Craig.

As the sun rose at around 4:45am, so did the children, most of whom had no way of telling the time without access to their mobile phones… After being convinced that 5am might be a little early to be up and showering, we all had breakfast together in our indoor accommodation and set about our second day’s activities. Day 2 involved more teamwork and problem solving with activities such as orienteering around the vast woodlands and locating areas solely from an ambiguous photograph. Multiple students took wrong turns and got lost along the way; how would we survive without Google Maps?

Predictably, in the lead up to our departure, the rain set in again just in time for us to transfer our heavy belongings from the tents to the coaches. We set off after a mild panic about Mr Mansfield losing the keys to accommodation halls and arrived back at school tired and muddy but with many memories of an enjoyable trip. Highlights from the students included:

“Abseiling was fun as you felt like you were going down a rocky mountain”

“Rain, it rained”

“Waters rollers were so good, you were being spun round by your friend and got knocked off your feet”

“Our tents flooded”

“Crate stacking was hard has you had to add the crates under people as they climbed but you got to knock them down and jump off at the end”

“Everyone’s bag got really wet”

A great time had by all.

To view the complete photo gallery, please use the following link: Thriftwood Summer Camp 2026