And just like that, day one at Plas Gwynant is over.

52 children and 5 staff all arrived safely at Plas after a lovely sunny journey, where we stopped off at the Welsh town of Llangollen to eat our snacks and prepare ourselves for the jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring sights of Snowdonia - with a few songs to help us along the way. Country Roads made a surprising but welcome appearance here!

After the most important event of the day - lunch, of course - the children were posed a simple question: So, what is this all about? 

We are here this week to:

• Complete Plas Gwynant's 50 Things To Do Before You're 11 3/4
• Build teamwork, collaboration and resilience
• Experience an outdoor learning environment

But, most importantly, as Lucas shared: "To have fun."

So, after kitting ourselves out with the famous Plas Gwynant red waterproofs (looking good, Year 6!) having fun was exactly what we did. Exploring the grounds, rolling down a hill, kicking mud and water at each other (well, Mrs Barnett...) - we don't mess about here!

Speaking of not messing about, the kitchen staff here at the centre, similar to the early weather, cooked up an absolute storm, with a choice of 🍕 or 🐟 and 🍟 . 

Into the evening activity, to work off all that food, the children partnered up to face off in an orienteering battle in the dark. A big well done to tonight's winners: Sienna & Saihaj and Megan & Lacey. Great stuff, girls!

As first days go, that will take some beating. Our young Oakhamites have flung themselves into new opportunities and already, many are showing that steely resilience that we look for on a week like this. 

To finish, hot chocolates were supped, diaries were written and #momentsofday were shared. One of those certainly caught the attention of the room, with one child not only losing their entire welly in the mud, but their poor sock, too. The sacrifices we make for a day of adventure.

Here's to more of the same tomorrow.

Night, all.