Review of the Year 5 trip to Youlbury 2018
By AB and SP and AM
Youlbury is an activity camp for people of all ages. You can chill out, have fun and do some unforgettable adventure activities. It has 42 acres of woodland including; indoor accommodation and outdoor camping.
Location
Youlbury can be found on Boars Hill in Oxfordshire. It’s about 45 minutes from Crowmarsh/Wallingford.
Facilities
We shared a dormitory with either three or five of our friends. Each dormitory had an en-suite bathroom with a shower, toilet and sink. The dining hall was a big space, where we socialised with each other and played games. We ate our lunch, breakfast or dinner there too. We sat with different people each meal to expand our friendships.
In my opinion, I thought that the bathroom facilities could have been better, we ran out of toilet paper and didn’t have a spare roll, and the bedrooms, had no lights by the beds, The firedoors were also very loud when they were closed.
At the entrance to the lodge was a boot room, and some sofas, we had an outside decking area that we could go in. We had to take our trainers off before going through.
Food
For breakfast we had coco pops followed by toast, bacon baps, sausages, beans and hash browns. We liked this because it was filling and tasty, getting ready for a day of adventure.
Lunch was sandwiches one day and pizza and chips the other. Dinner was chicken pasta bake, garlic bread and salad (optional) and chicken with potato wedges and corn on the cob. The portions were large, and we could go up for seconds. We had our own cooks that made breakfast, lunch, and dinner every night.
For supper we had hot chocolate and biscuits. Smores were given out by the teacher at the campfire which was fun and delicious. We toasted the marshmallows over the bonfire on a twig, the fire was a bit hot.
Activities
Every morning we walked down to the activity meeting point to find out which activities we were doing that day. There were many activities at Youlbury, such as:
- 3G swing: the 3G swing is a really fun activity to do. You and a partner sit in a double chair and the others in your group pull a rope making you rise up to as high as you want. The person sitting on the right will pull a rope which detaches them from the cords holding them up, and them and their partner will fall and swing in the chair. We found this one the most enjoyable.
- Leap of Faith: the leap of faith is a tall pole you climb up with a harness on. Once you are at the top you jump off and try to catch the bar above you. You will then slowly be lowered down on your rope.
- Zip wire: the zip wire is higher up than a normal one, and you are on a harness instead of a seat. When you get to the end you will be given instructions by an instructor below you to help you to get down.
- Team building: in team building you will do all sorts of games as a team. This helps you to work well with others and get to know each other.
- Orienteering: you are given a compass and map. Your task is, in threes, to find pictures on trees, fences or somewhere else in the woods. This was our least favourite activity because it wasn’t that active.
- Wild games: wild games were after dinner. As a class we played lots of fun games such as bulldog and cheerleaders and other fun activities. We had to run around in our groups to find the flags and answer questions about the countries.
- Campfire making: in groups of three you would each make a fire and have to keep it going. The biggest one that burns through the string wins! We learnt how to light a fire using flint, steel, cotton buds and petroleum jelly. We also had to find sticks of all shapes and sizes.We learnt about the fire triangle.
- Group campfire and songs: this was also after dinner but this time the instructors made the fire. We all sang songs and had a chance to perform in front of the class. We all finished with smores.
- Abseiling: this was a tall building (almost quadruple the height of the school!). You would go up the stairs inside and once you were at the top the instructor would attach you to a rope which meant you could jump off the building. Every now and again bounce off the wall until you are at the bottom.
- Archery: in archery you aim to get a bullseye. Some groups tried to pop the balloons. First you had to find what type of bow you would use- left or right. There was a simple test to find this out- making a triangle with your hands and looking through it at your instructor.
Staff
The staff at Youlbury are extremely kind and are from all over the world. Most are volunteers and do it for the fun. Our favourite person was Lina from Germany, who did the 3G swing and campfire with us.
Julio – Mexico
Favian – Venezuela
Proscovia – Uganda
Sol – Argentina
Lara – Russia
Lina – Germany
Lewis – Ecuador
Belle – Argentina
Fred– Australia
Alex – England
Eriff – Bangladesh
Paupi – Mexico
Luke – England
“My favourite member of staff was Lina because she was kind and explained the activities really well,”quoted Suzanna, agreeing with us.
Other favourites are Lara, Joolio, Luke and Louis.
Rating
We rated it four stars, the facilities and activities were good. The one facility that wasn’t as satisfying was the showers in the rooms. When you turned it on the bathroom would flood and the water did not go downwards onto you as it should. but it was good that the floor was mopped by Mrs Hallam and Mrs Napier-Jones.
We really enjoyed Youlbury and hope you will too!
