Kielder Forest
On the 18th of November 2022, 36 students and 4 members of staff from PGHS left school early and went on a science adventure weekend up in Northumberland to Kielder Forest. Once we arrived at our accommodation (Tarset Tor), after a quick stop at Tebay services, we collected our luggage and headed up to our bothies (small cabins, each with a kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms and a bathroom). It was fun to stay with friends and was so cosy, even though it was muddy outside! Once we had had time to settle in, we then headed down to the main bunkhouse, where the teachers made us pasta – which was delicious!
During the weekend, we visited the observatory on the Friday night. We wrapped up warm and we arrived about 7pm. We had the opportunity to have a lecture about space, the universe and cosmology by a wonderful group of staff who specialised in astronomy. Furthermore, we were then fortunate enough to hold a meteorite and look through a microscope to see a sample of a rock. Once the sky had cleared, we were able to look through a telescope and look at Mars. The observatory has one of the darkest skies in Europe, so we were fortunate enough to see the Milky Way and see several shooting stars. We also all got together to have hot chocolate which was very nice!
On the Saturday, we then went to Kielder Water (which is the largest man-made reservoir in England) to a scout activity center (Hawkshirt) where we had the opportunity to do abseiling or zip lining, kayaking and paddle boarding. The first activity my group did was zip lining, and everyone will agree when I say the view of the lake was amazing from up there! Going down was a bit nerve-wracking but was so fun. We then changed into wetsuits and did kayaking. It was quite hard as it was windy and we did some games and challenges to help us learn. Our instructors were also extremely friendly and funny which made the experience even better.
We went back inside to warm up and had a bit of lunch and more hot chocolate before going back to do paddle boarding. We went on the paddleboards in pairs. We did team games and even attempted standing up! As you would think, almost everyone fell off (including me) but a certain pair probably broke a record and fell 5 times! We all really enjoyed ourselves, despite being cold (about 3 °C) and wet and went home with amazing memories.
We also had the opportunity to jump off the jetty. Everyone enjoyed themselves thoroughly and there were nothing but smiles and laughs that could be seen or heard all around.
Once we got back, we chilled in our bothies while we waited for the pizza to arrive from a local takeaway. After we had had our pizza, we played games such as Uno (the longest game to ever exist) and Cluedo, which became very competitive. We also had a few games of pool before we toasted marshmallows at our camp fire.
Mrs Honeyman
Associate Assistant Headteacher and Curriculum Leader for Science
This was a memorable experience, one that I will never forget – Rebecca S.
We all went home with amazing memories I know I’ll definitely keep forever – Phoebe B.
Overall, the weekend was absolutely amazing with lots of memories made. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat – Freya A.
It was a great trip which I would go on again if I could! A special thank you to all the teachers for organising the trip and making sure we had an amazing time – Maryam M.
Overall this trip was a wonderful learning opportunity and a tremendous amount of fun for us all. The staff, (Mrs Honeyman, Mrs Arrowsmith, Miss Parker and Miss Avery) were all lovely and made this trip amazing for us all – Vidyha P.
