Day 2 - Hitting the target and moving onwards and upwards!

Sarah's group - Group One - gorged and tree climbed.

Emily Ellis loved the gorge walk even though she was soaked through with water still leaking out of her jacket back at the centre. Lewis Pritchett went under a big rock and then ‘bombed’ into the plunge pool.  He loved all the slides too. The whole of Group One climbed the tree! Sean Kilday said he climbed right to the very top, even though he was scared of heights. The group's teamwork skills were hugely important as each member pitted themselves against the might of a terrifying 60 foot tree... What made this task even more intimidating was the fact that the tree was at near a cliff, so that people on the tree were looking over an even bigger drop... Success would be measured in how each group member conquered their personal fears. Group members supported each other by lifting spirits (and sometimes whole bodies) and giving directions as to the next step up the tree. Amazingly each and every member of the group got to the top and rang the bell. Tom, Olivia, Sean E, Sean K, Lewis, Emily, Ben S, Laura, Charlie and Megan all congratulated each other on their success. Some mocking of Mr Howie also took place as he 'helped out in an advisory capacity'!

Group Two were on the slope in the morning and had archery in the afternoon with instructor Gordon. Adam taught Joe how to parallel ski. Lucy had never skied before but got to the top of the slope. Gordon taught Varnit better technique for archery and now he can hit the middle of the target. Yuan hit the bullseye on her third shot. Javahl took six shots but then hit the blue circle. Murrin hit the balloon on her second attempt. Lois hit two balloons in five shots and Euan Alexander has learned how to fire an arrow.

Group Three were climbing and abseiling all day with instructor Tomas and Mr Wallace.

Eda was really apprehensive about the activities but did both. She said she felt really brave and proud of herself. Hannah did very well to clamber up the rocks and was proud too. Their group built a fantastic tepee shelter while people abseiled one at a time.

Group Four tackled the gorge with instructors Rob and Andy and Ms Gallagher. It was fantastic fun and the group were extremely caring and co-operative towards each other. Josh led the way but always held out a hand to those behind him. Ms Gallagher loved the plunge pool and Kamran and Humzah enjoyed the slides. Amy and Ellis were great at trying upright but also loved getting wet. Owen was cold but happy. Liam and Tabith relished all the challenges. Ms Christie cycled with them in the afternoon and the group loved the new circuit training course. Amy and Owen had one to one personal tuition from Andy to improve their stability while the rest of the group looped around the centre.

Group Five had a fabulous time on an all day hillwalk with instructor Kevin.

Group Six went on an interesting and bracing hillwalk with instructor Kris up a smalll hill near Kingussie called Creag Bheag.  Daniel, Leon, Aidan, Andrew, Euan, David, Aleena, YuNing, India proved to be very good hillwalkers with a few of them earning the name of 'Mountain Goats' from Mrs Jones. The walk took them through mixed forest, open land and up peaty, heathery slopes then  up a steep, rocky path towards the cold windy summit where they had their lunch. It was worth the effort as the views across the valley were wonderfully clear. They could see the town of Kingussie, Kingussie High School and its rugby and shinty pitches. Beyond that were Ruthven Barracks and the River Spey winding its way down the valley. Mrs Jones was really impressed with their level of fitness and also with the positive team effort in getting to the top. When they got back to the centre Kris made time to let them cook bread over a fire in the tepee. Nick's group - Group Seven- went onto the archery course first. Lots of listening skills were developed as instructions on how to use a bow and shoot correctly were absorbed. Everyone achieved some shots they were proud of and a few members of the group managed to hit their balloons. Accuracy and consistency were the main aims as the group tried to hone their new skills. Peter F and Ferdi B managed to hit the balloons and Mr H rebelled in the only activity he is any good at! Group Eight were in the gorge on Tuesday morning with instructor Martin and Miss Phillips. Everybody tackled all the challenges, including the 'jacuzzi', the plunge pool and the slides. Taran pushed everyone out of the way to be first and was the star leader.