Brentwood Preparatory School Incipe 2017-18

A Fly On The Wall - Year Six fitted in a drainage system in case of rain, we did this by making a dip in the tarpaulin and then filtering it to the floor by the side where no- one was sleeping. Finally, we pegged down the loose parts of the cover to the ground so no rain could get inside overnight. We added flowers to decorate the shelter. Sleeping in them was extremely good fun. Bushcraft Songs We used songs a lot at Bushcraft, we would use them to wake us up if it was a cold and damp morning, and surprisingly they always worked! They made us happy and pay attention or stop us talking. All the songs were call and response. We loved the songs, smiling when we sang them, nothing could make us unhappy! The songs were silly and goofy, I almost remember each one. Reeces’ Peanut Butter Cups was everybody’s favourite! Singing the songs on the way home, in the tents, while we were playing games, we sang them anywhere and everywhere. I’m sure we will all be singing them for a long time to come! Swimming at Bushcraft The lake! It was so cold! I was stunned to the point if finding a challenge to even breathe! It was great fun though. Before we went in we had to put on a life jacket. First Gregor sprayed us with a water pistol to try and get us to feel what sort of temperature the water was. But I bet you that water had been in the sun for ten minutes because it was actually warm. So we all jumped in hoping that it would be nice and warm but I could not have been more incorrect! It was so cold ! had to get straight back out again! While we waited for the other groups to go into the lake, we could explore the stream that was full of rocks and pebbles. We spent a long time turning the pebbles over to hunt for crayfish. But the only downside of this was that the water was absolutely freezing cold as well. There was a patch of land in the stream and I kept on running back to it to warm my feet back up again! Bushcraft Tribes Got Talent (TGT!!) Mr Matthams is retiring this year so our Tribes got Talent night was dedicated to him. During a few evenings of Bushcraft, the tribes practised for Tribes Got Talent. We spent three evenings rehearsing and then on Thursday night we performed it to our teachers and tribe leaders. Our tribe made up songs about homework and lessons, Mr Matthams was thrilled and even stood up and applauded us all. The tribe that won was the one who imitated teachers and grown ups voices. We all changed the lyrics to a specific call and response song called ‘Toast’. That was really funny! We ended the evening with a chocolate celebration cake !!! I think Mr Matthams enjoyed it and will remember his last year of Bushcraft. All of us enjoyed Tribes Got Talent and it will be something we will never forget. Cutting Skills at Bushcraft During our time at Bushcraft we learnt how to cut tools. We found thumb-thickness sticks to make into tent pegs. To make a tent peg with our stick we needed to cut one of the end on a slant to create a point, similar to the writing end of a pencil. We then needed to push our knives into the middle of the stick to create a dent for the rope of the tent to wrap around. The knives we used to cut the stick were called Bushcraft knives. They were extremely sharp and dangerous. Before we started to cut the stick we had to check that no one was near us. We called this our blood bubble. We had to make sure nobody was standing in our blood bubble when we were cutting in case they got covered in blood if we cut ourselves. I found this activity useful because if I needed to set up a tent or a shelter I would have a way of creating a peg to secure the tent. Bushcraft Fire Lighting At Bushcraft we experienced fire lighting, but most importantly we had to learn about the safety aspects in lighting a fire. We learnt that before lighting a fire you must check that the fire is small enough that nearby trees won’t catch fire. We learnt not to be silly around a fire so you don’t get burnt. Also if you are close to the fire, stand in the opposite way of where the smoke is flowing because it is really bad for your lungs and your eyes. If you breathe the smoke in it will turn your lungs black if you breathe in enough and it might hurt your throat and stomach. First of all to make a fire you need oxygen, heat and fuel. With our tribes we had to collect four different types of wood for fuel eg: match sticks, finger sticks, thumb sticks and wrist sticks. The size of all the sticks are the circumference of the object. We built the fire by placing the sticks in a hashtag shape. We then got some cotton wool and covered it in Vaseline to help it catch light. We lit it by using flint and steel to make sparks. Fire lighting is a life skill, because if you get stuck in the woods a fire is essential for light, heat and to keep away insects and bigger animals. You also might need a fire in the wild to be able to cook food. We cooked burgers. Brentwood School Preparatory 67