Return to Home page What We Did In Margam
The theme in Margam was Sustainability, this incorporated 4 topics: Dependency; Time and Change; Diversity and Impact.
Monday
We left school at 9.30am and arrived at Margam about 10. The morning was spent settling in. In the classroom we were introduced to Rick, Sadie and Rebecca and given an outline of what was going to happen throughout the week. Each child was given the Latin name of a small creature found somewhere in the park, this name was on their beds, coat hangers, lunch and tuck boxes.
After lunch Rick took us out and we concentrated on Dependency, this took the form of 5 challenges - holding hands and untangling into a circle; guiding each other along a rope, tied between trees, blindfolded; having fun; crossing the lava flow; getting water in a bucket using guttering.
Evening meal was at 5.30, followed by another session in the classroom. The children were given a Monty Mole 'treasure hunt' quiz, where they had to find and answer questions around the centre. The scores were recorded and they were told that hopefully by the end of the week they would have learned more about sustainability and improve their scores.
At dusk Rick took us batting, we counted between 150 and 200 bats coming from the roof of the Orangery. Later we had a warm drink and went to bed. We were all very tired but excited and it took a little while before everyone settled down to sleep.
Tuesday
Everyone was awake by 7 and ready for breakfast at 8, then into the classroom for 9.30. Time and Change was the topic. We spent the morning looking around the safe areas of the castle with Sadie, dressing as Victorians and producing playlets.
After a pleasant packed lunch we were joined by Rick and visited St Mary's church. There we were greeted by David who gave us a guided tour. After the children were given time to sketch things they found interesting. We then went into the graveyard where they made rubbings of inscriptions on the graves. Back in the classroom the children filled in their booklets and diaries. Further clues were given regarding their Latin names and a few good guesses were made as to what they actually were. Following our evening meal we visited the playground and enjoyed climbing, jumping and running. Later there was a warm drink, tuck, showers and bed. This night everyone settled much quicker and we all had a good night's sleep. Wednesday Today we were looking at Diversity and spent our morning pond dipping, many different types of creatures were discovered and we found where they came in the food chain. After lunch we hunted for minibeasts in the small woods near the castle, again many interesting creatures were found. In the classroom they continued to work in the booklets and diaries. It was off to the playground again after the evening meal and eventually bed. Thursday After breakfast we gathered in the classroom and were given Ralos - pretend money - to pay fees for the Impact we were making on the planet. Unfortunately many of us found ourselves without money very quickly. Each group was then given a 'cyberpet' and told to make a thermally insulated shelter for it, using certain materials. In the afternoon we went across the park to make dens. The children thoroughly enjoyed this, even when they had to go inside and discover how waterproof they were! The evening was spent around the campfire, singing songs and listening to Rick's 'ghost' story. This was our last night in the castle and once again the children found it difficult to settle, fortunately they were tired and it wasn't too long before they were all in the land of nod. Friday Our last day and back to Dependency, this time taking the form of orienteering. Armed with maps and answer sheets, the groups wandered round looking for the clues under the watchful eyes of the teachers. All were successful in reading the maps and finding the clues. Then back to the classroom to find out how they had done with the answers. Nearly everyone's score had improved, so a successful week had been achieved. The meanings to the Latin names had been discovered, so everyone, at last, knew what they were. After a final meal in the cafe it was back to load bags and cases into the coach. We were all tired, it was sad to say goodbye to Rick, Sadie and Rebecca but everyone was looking forward to going home and seeing their families.