Primary 7

Calling all Primary 7 Parents. Just a reminder that on Thursday 3rd July, we will be holding an activity morning with light lunch, in the Primary 7 classroom. Please feel free to pop along for as long as you can. The event will start at 11:00am and finish at 1:00pm (approx) We look forward to seeing you then.

Micro-Fitness on PhotoPeach

Primary 7 have had a busy few weeks, included lots of outdoor excursions. They had a great time on a recent hill walk in the Lammermuir Hills, where they built shelters and examined animal bones.

Lammermuir Hillwalk on PhotoPeach

Just to make you all aware, Primary 7 pupils (not Ellen or Catriona) have been sent home, this evening, with any change they had from their Benmore pocket money.

If I had a pound for every “I’m tired” “I miss Benmore” “I wish we were still there” that I’d heard today, I’d be a very rich lady!
We’ve had a lovely first day back, sharing our stories and looking through all the pictures. Primary 7 are currently working on their favourite part of camp, so keep checking this post for updates throughout the week. Until then, enjoy the photos from what was, a very happy, adventurous and enjoyable week.

Benmore on PhotoPeach

Can’t believe we are on day 3 already… time is flying by!

It’s been a horrible, wet and windy day at Benmore today, but, yet again, your children defeated the elements and continued to smile throughout a fantastic day of cycling and forest walking.

Group One

We woke up this morning, got dressed and tidied our rooms before going for a slap up breakfast of cereal, sausages, beans and toast. We then went back into our dorm groups and completed our chores. Afterwards, we met in the field studies room to prepare for the Forest Adventure. We got changed and set off from the centre. We walked into a forest where we stopped half-way up. Scott had given 2 of us cooking pans so we cooked some hot chocolate in the forest and made some shelters. We cleared up and headed back to the centre, through the Botanic Garden. When we got back to Benmore we stopped for lunch. Following lunch, we had some free time and then met up with Scott again. We were told what we needed to wear for biking and set off, out of the centre about 2:00pm. It was great fun because we got to go through puddle lane… which was very dry as you can imagine! We had to try to find Christopher’s bolt from his bike because his pedal fell off! We all got very muddy but had a brilliant time.

Group Two

We met Iona this morning and were told to wear warm, cosy clothes. Afterwards, we set off from the bike shed and cycled out of the centre. We cycled along the road and turned off into the forest. There were loads of slippery branches on the ground and deep puddles. We went down a forest trail and through lots of mud. It was great fun. Once we’d had lunch we set off in a mini-bus into the forest. We walked through Puck’s Glen and went to the top to see where his hut was. We walked out through the woods to take a short cut and had some hot chocolate. We walked along the road, very wet, back to the centre. We really enjoyed going under the waterfall. When we came back from our walk we had tea and cake. Cake today was jam doughnuts so we all had to do the jam doughnut challenge! It’s very difficult to stop yourself licking your lips!

Tonight’s dinner consisted of chicken curry and profiteroles… Full tummies yet again, but, unsure of tomorrow’s activities as they will be weather dependent.

The Avenue

Today, Jamie and myself were woken up to Primary 7’s angelic singing, “Happy Birthday dear Christopher…” which is certainly a new 7:00am alarm call for me!
We’ve had a mixed bag of weather today, heavy rain in the morning and gorgeous sunshine in the afternoon. However, spirits were high and the children had yet another fun filled day.

Group One
We headed down to breakfast at 8:30am this morning. We had cereal and cooked breakfast. Afterwards, at 9:00am we went into the field studies room and spoke about our morning activity. Our first activity was climbing and abseiling. We did this in the indoor climbing walls because it was so wet and windy outside. We had lunch at 1:00pm – soup and sarnies. Afterwards, we met again in the field studies room and spoke about the gorge walk. We left the centre about 2:00pm and travelled a couple of miles in the mini-bus. We set off through a grave-yard and had a look at some famous names on headstones (happy topic) then got to the bottom of the gorge. We climbed up the gorge, in the water, out the water, under the water, on slabs, rock faces, through rocks and up ropes! Half way up we got to slide down part of a water-fall (Miss McNicoll as well!) and slightly further on got to the part of the gorge known as the ‘key-hole’. We had to climb through a gap in the rocks with water lashing onto our heads and faces. Then we had to slide ourselves carefully between to slab faces. We got to the top of the gorge and walked back down through lots of mud!

Group Two
This morning, we met in the common room to discuss our morning activity. We were told that we were going to do gorge walking first and rock climbing in the afternoon. We got dressed in warm clothes and put our water-proofs on top. We went out to the mini-bus and were taken to a forest. We walked through a graveyard and went down some steps. The steps led us to the start of the gorge. As we went on, there was lots of water splashing down on us- there has been a lot of rainfall over here! We climbed through the water and on rocks. We got to slide down the waterfall and climb through a gap in the rocks with water splahing our faces. We crossed over the gorge and climbed back down through the forest.
This afternoon we went rock climbing. We started off inside and played some rock-climbing games. We also did some climbs and abseils. When we went outside we walked to a huge cliff face and climbed up to the top and then abseiled back down.

There was a huge surprise at tea and cake this afternoon, when the Benmore staff produced an amazing chocolate cake for Christopher’s Birthday. This time our singing multiplied as we were helped by Corn Bank, a group of Primary 6 pupils from Penicuik.

Tonight’s dinner menu consisted of Fish and chips followed by jelly and ice-cream, full tummies and lots of energy for biking and forest walking tomorrow.

Group One will feature in tomorrow’s blog- having problems with one of our cameras, sorry.

Primary 7 are all safe, sound and very well fed!
We had a great journey across, stopping off at Luss, for lunch, at 11:30am and arriving at Benmore around 12:50pm. The first activity which everyone took part in was bed making… some interesting strategies when trying to insert duvets into covers and put sheets on matresses, however, everyone managed in time for our first outdoor adventures.

Group One
“We were split into 2 groups and had a tour of the centre. Then we were given water-proofs and a helmet. We were told to meet at the mini-bus. Scott, our instructor, took us ‘slab climbing’ which was very slippery but great fun. Then we went back in the bus and did some more ‘bouldering’ and we also went through a waterfall. It was quite scary but everyone managed to do it. We came back to the centre and hung our clothes in the drying room. Then we had juice and cake”

Group Two
“We met our instructor, Iona and she told us some information about our stay. Then we went to collect our water-proofs. We also got some wellies. We were told to get ready and meet her at the front door. We then went exploring in the Benmore gardens where we had our first taste of a gorge walk”

Tonight’s dinner consisted of home-made pizza, potato wedges and salad, followed by yoghurt and fruit-keeping the energy levels up for a full day of Gorge walking, climbing and abseiling tomorrow.

We’re off on a night-walk in 15 minutes so please check the blog tomorrow for more updates and pictures (hopefully).

With the Benmore countdown in its final stages, Primary 7 are all very excited and looking forward to their trip next week. Can I just remind parents that children will need a packed lunch on Monday as we will stop at Luss to eat and break the journey up.
If your child has any medication, please make sure it’s clearly labelled with their name on it as well as any instructions regarding administration. I will collect medication in on Monday morning so please don’t pack it in your child’s suitcase.
The class webpage will be updated on a daily basis so you can follow our journey throughout the week.