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| Monday 20th May: the bit after sunset, but the bit before the stars. |
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| Tuesday 21st May: erm, so i got some walking shoes... |
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| Wednesday 22nd May: two down, three to go. |
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| Thursday 23rd May: over half way... |
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| Friday 24th May: one exam left, cake making and weekend away!! |
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| Saturday 25th May: bibles, fun and bonfires... |
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| Sunday 26th May: a long week, finished with a fun filled weekend! |
This has been a long week, 3 exams in the space of 3 days (not as bad as some people, but it’s bad enough!)
Then a weekend away with 24 kids aged 7-11. Tired, would be an understatement… But it has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences I’ve had.
Monday, took my sister to school, went to pick up some stuff for her to take on weekend away, got some walking shoes for myself and some t-shirts (ideal for Kenya… 5 months away…) Then went home and did some revision, then picked my sister up from school and chilled with her for the evening.
Tuesday, again I took my sister to school, then went into school myself to do some Psychology and PE revision, which was helpful, then went home and did some more revision and stuff.
Wednesday, had my second AS exam, Psychology Unit 1… I think it went ok, I mean I answered all the questions, which was a first for that subject this year… I sort of knew what I was talking about when I was answering them too… (Well I think I did?) Still, after that exam I did hard-core PE revision for the rest of the afternoon.
Thursday, did my PE exam, my third AS exam, I’m feeling I should have respected the questions a bit more, if that makes any sense? Thinking I could have done much better than I did, and not feeling too confident about my result there, but we’ll just have to wait and see :S
Friday, second to last AS exam, English Language, meh, again, I think it went ok, but gonna have to wait to see if it went well enough… Finished my exam, had lunch with my grandma, and then looked after my sister for most of the afternoon, we baked cakes and finished packing our bags for weekend away…
So then, 5pm came, Friday 24th May, and we were off in two minibuses and a car, on a weekend away, it took us twice as long to get there to what we’d planned, so consequently when we got the kids to camp they were pretty excited, and wanted to run riot. Still, we got their rooms sorted, laid down the rules and reward system and then it was dinner time, pizza and salad, it was good and seemed to go down well! Chores were done and then the first session of I’m A Leader Get Me Out Of Here... I may have been the first one out (balancing with a dodgy knee is never gonna end well) but I avoided being voted into the final… Then we had our first session of the weekend, involving a talk about Daniel and then a discussion in our room groups, which was great. Then it was time to try get them to bed… Let me put it this way, we had to go into one room to get them to be quiet at 2 in the morning… then they were up at quarter to 6 the next morning?
Consequently Saturday was a long day! All the male leaders had got a good nights sleep because they were deep sleepers and everything, nice for them, but the three female leaders, including me were out of it, this meaning it was a real test of patience. The weather was lovely, which was a great start, and after morning warm up and breakfast and chores, we had our second session of the weekend, the talk was the story of The Fiery Furnace in Daniel, after that we had a discussion and then onto the second round of I’m A Leader Get Me Out Of Here… again, I didn’t win immunity, I gave doughnut eating a good go though, and it was a close round, and luckily I still didn’t get voted through to the final :D
We then let the kids have tuck and chill time, which was basically us playing a game of football and twister with them which was good fun! I then led a wide game, which was basically capture the flag, but with a slight twist and tokens instead of flags. Then it was lunch, chores and the third session (writings on the wall) followed by a discussion. After that, it was time for the activities, my group went on the climbing wall, they did really well, those that were a bit wobbly to start with got up there and at least tried it, so it was good to see them having a go. Then we went on to do archery, which was fun!
We went back to our hut thing?! We had dinner, did chores, did another round of I’m A Leader Get Me Out Of Here, this was the last round, for the third place in the final, I missed out on immunity yet again, so this meant it was between me and one other leader for the final, at one point I honestly thought it was going to be me, but luckily they saw sense and the majority voted for the other leader! So, I wasn’t getting gunged!! J
We then headed outside for a bonfire, we played some games, toasted some marshmallows, had some hot chocolate and one of the leaders shared their testimony with the kids, they listened well and took the opportunity with the spare time after to ask other leaders about how they became Christian, and it was great to see the kids listening, taking it in and asking questions after too.
After that, it was bed time, and they were asleep within half hour, which we were VERY thankful for! This meant that we got a good nights sleep, which was needed!
Then today, we had breakfast, listened to the finalists speeches to convince the kids not to vote for them to be gunged, then did chores and gave them the results! I was quite surprised but there we go! We then had our last session of the weekend, which was the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den, including a role-play from the leaders… (This is when doing GCSE Drama comes in handy!!) Followed by a discussion, then the gunging!!! The gunge was made up of all sorts from pea and ham soup, to marshmallows mixed with pasta and sauce, YUM! Then some free time, which was used for me to teach some of them some chords on the ukulele, it was great to have one of the kids especially who usually struggles a bit to concentrate and stay ‘settled’ came and sat and seemed to enjoy it and they were pretty good too! It gave them something to focus on, which was a great way to keep them occupied!
Then it was lunch time, followed by chores and prizes! After that was time to pack up and start heading home L
It was a great weekend, and I found it great being a leader and without being too cheesy, it was great getting to know the kids better, watching them grow in confidence and build relationships with each other, their team work together got so much better over the weekend, and I’m really hoping they keep that with them with the rest of the Friday Club Xtra group.
I found it a really rewarding experience and would definitely do it again! It was a positive weekend and refreshing too!
Music of the Week:
Mainly because I’ve been waiting sooooo long for her second album it’s got to be Jessie J’s new single!!
This one I’ve put in because I’ve been listening to this guy whilst revising, and the video for this specific song is pretty cool sooo…
Last one is from someone I used to play cricket with, it’s a summery cheery song, the video’s cool and just thought it was a song you guys should hear J ENJOY!
Quotes of the Week:
‘doing good, feels good’
‘don’t try your best, because if your best isn’t good enough, there’s no need to get upset about it’ (a simplistic idea my sister came up with when I was freaking about one of my exams…)
‘are we in front of the other minibus behind us?’ – from one of the kids today on the way home, I think this one sums up how tired we all were after a really great weekend!
evan. :)
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