And just like that, our Plas Gwynant routine is well underway!

The day began with a gentle Welsh mist and a 7:00am wake-up call—perhaps a little earlier than some would have liked, but everyone rose to the challenge. Mornings here come with shared responsibilities, and the children have embraced these brilliantly. From laying tables for breakfast to feeding the birds, every job was taken on with enthusiasm. With 54 children pitching in (and the occasional coffee-fuelled teacher drifting through), everything was completed in no time at all.

Breakfast was a welcome reward after the early start. A hearty spread of cereal, toast, beans and hash browns ensured everyone was fuelled and ready for the day ahead—alongside some rather questionable looking cups of tea…

Before heading off, our weather reporters for the week, Sophie and Haiden, delivered the highlight of the morning: less than a 5% chance of rain—excellent news! Spirits were high as the children met their instructors and set off for a day packed with adventure. Activities included mountain walking, gorge walking, beach exploration, canoeing and abseiling. It has been fantastic to see the children stepping out of their comfort zones, supporting one another, and making the most of every opportunity. Be sure to take a look at the photos to see them in action.

After such an active day, dinner was very well received—bangers and mash followed by chocolate brownie went down a treat. The evening then brought plenty of energy, with children racing around playing hide and seek across the centre grounds. A special mention goes to Alex, whose owl-inspired hiding spot proved particularly impressive.

We’re now settling down for the night, with the building surprisingly quiet after such a full day. With sunshine promised for tomorrow, we’re all looking forward to another exciting day ahead.

Fingers crossed 🤞

Here we go then… Year 6 have returned to Plas Gwynant!

The weather gods tried to test us a little today, but with the sun never too far away, were we bothered? Of course not.

We arrived at Plas Gwynant at around 1:30pm and there was no time to waste. Lunch was quickly eaten and we gathered together to talk about why we are here for the week. The children had some great ideas:

· “To experience the outdoors.”

· “To get away from our phones.”

· “To show resilience.”

All excellent answers, Year 6. But our personal favourite was the simplest one of all… to have fun!

After collecting our clothing and equipment, it was time to explore our new home for the week. And by exploring, we mean rolling down muddy hills, racing across fields and, of course, getting very wet in the stream. Safe to say the adventure had well and truly begun.

After all that excitement, tea was very welcome: fish or pizza with chips, followed by arctic roll and peaches. A big hit all round.

Even though there was still a little rain in the air, that didn’t stop us heading out for our evening activity of orienteering around the centre. Teams raced around the grounds searching for checkpoints and the competitive spirit was definitely out in force. Tonight’s extremely modest winners were: Elijah and Thomas. Great job, gang!

To finish the day, we enjoyed Plas Gwynant’s traditional hot chocolate before settling down to write our diaries and reflect on a fantastic first day.

Here are a few of the children’s comments about the start of our wonderful week in North Wales…

Leila-May: “Going in the stream was so much fun because I didn’t expect to get so wet on day one. Looking forward to tomorrow.”

Ryan: “Rolling down the was great although it made us rather dizzy, bumping into each other when getting up!”

Ava: “I loved Mrs Boaler’s groovy dancing during the game!”

Nos da 👋