Updated ETA: 8:45pm

Arrival ETA Update

Dear Parents and Carers,

Unfortunately our arrival back at school has been delayed due to heavy traffic leaving Devon and needing to change coach drivers to ensure they stay within their legal driving limits. 
Our estimated time of arrival is now around 9pm - we intend to stop and provide all children with snacks along the way.
We apologise for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding! We will continue to provide updates along the way. 
 

The Heatree Team

Heatree 2024

Well, we made it! Although queries of 'are we there yet' began on the M25, the trip went smoothly and we quickly settled in. After spending some time becoming acquainted with the site, we eagerly sat down to supper.

This evening we participated in our first activity: grass sledging. Well done to those who participated in this thrill!

Tomorrow we have our first packed day - be sure to check back to see how it goes!

Note: unfortunately, the wifi will not allow the uploading of photos. These will be added in when possible! Thanks in advance for your understanding. 

Day 2...

WOW... What a fabulous first day!  We could not be prouder of the children, with many compliments from the staff at Heatree regarding their manners, team work and behaviour: a credit to you all. 

We are blessed with wonderful weather, ensuring everyone is drinking plenty of water and lots of suncream applied.  A day full of activities; some groups have been out on the Moors, we have some skilled archers;  with some of the children even managing to hit the Bullseye.  A new low adventure for this year has been a great success, the children loved it and showed amazing teamwork and were happy with the refreshing dip in the steam. 

We are all looking forward to tomorrow, we are sure that we might have to wake a few more children up in the morning! 

Day 3...

The adventures have carried on aplenty today with another fabulous day enjoyed by everyone.

Some groups enjoyed their turn on the Wilderness Venture today, it was wonderful to see the children encouraging and offering advice to each other as they scrambled through small gaps in the rocks.  We have been so proud of all the children for their behaviour as teams.

Other groups stayed on site where they spent some time on (and in) the water, raft building. They then tested their head for heights with a turn on the climbing and abseiling tower.

Of course, the day doesn't end when the instructed activities finish.  The children still had some energy left so we played rounders, did some more grass sledging and had options for some more "chilled" activities before the evening culminated in the annual Heatree Dance Off!!  Video will be shared at a later date!

Another fantastic day was done and the children all went off to their rooms to top up on sleep and energy ahead of their final full day of activities.

We will upload more photos as we are able to.

Day 4...

Early morning update - the fresh air, long days and fun activities are definitely taking their toll on the children and the staff!! This morning, at wake up time we were not greeted with shouts of "morning" and smiling faces ready to go, rather slightly bleary eyes and groans of "morning".  After a few minutes they realised the adventures awaiting them today and were rushing to and from the drying room to fetch their (hopefully dry) kit for another day of adventure.  Miss Decker and Miss Fuller are hoping they can avoid being pushed in the lake, but are becoming increasingly doubtful!

Heatree 2023

Return ETA 

It has been brought to my attention that some parents have not received the email sent at 16:00. I am so sorry.

Children in Mr Saunders' car will arrive at 18:45.

Children with Mrs Strand in the minibus will arrive at 19:30

Children in the Coach will arrive at 20:00

Thursday 13th July

Today, we had another very busy day on the moors and thankfully we managed to avoid the passing showers.

In the evening, we spent some time in our class groups playing games and visiting the round house. 

We are looking forwards to seeing you all tomorrow when we arrive back.

Wednesday 12th July

Once again, we have been very lucky with the weather, only encountering the occasional shower. The team on the moors had fun wriggling between the rocks, but we were worried that Mrs Strand might get stuck!

The other team spent the morning problem solving and the afternoon raft building.

In the evening, we held our annual dance off. There were some amazing moves from the children and some not so amazing ones from the adults. 

We look forward to sharing the whole video during the leavers' service. 

Tuesday 11th July

Our first full day at Heatree has been exciting and very busy.

Half of us went out for a day on the moors and despite the grey clouds, we stayed surprisingly dry all day.

When we reached Hound Tor, we had the chance to do some rock scrambling and weaseling. There were some tight squeezes, but we really pushed ourselves to succeed.

The other half of us spent the day on the Heatree grounds, where we were raft building, climbing and doing archery.

Like the children on the moors, we were very brave and also worked very well as a team.

Depending on our archery aim, the forfeit for poor was to eat dinner with a reduced selection of cutlery. One of us was particularly surprised to find we had to eat our mash and pie using just the fork handles!

After dinner, we spent the evening outside playing running games, football and grass sledging. After such a long day, we are definitely ready for bed!

Monday 10th July 2023

We are happy to report that we have arrived at Heatree safe and sound. Thankfully the journey was very smooth and we arrived at 2:30pm ready for our first activity, orienteering. 

After spending some time unpacking, we had a delicious pasta bake for dinner, served by two very familiar faces. For pudding, we had apple crumble with custard. There were lots of empty plates with many children asking for seconds. 

This evening, we are having some free time, including board games, table football and some time outdoors. 

We look forward to sharing more news with you tomorrow.