Arete Outdoor Education Trip – Snowdonia, Wales

On Monday 16th March, we took 17 adventurous year 9 students to the depths of Wales for the week.  After the Welsh coach company losing our booking, Kings Norton Coaches came to our rescue, delivering us to Llanrug in record time (one slight benefit to this awful virus, coach availability and quiet roads!).  On the beautifully sunny journey, we got to experience the stunning scenery as we approached the mountains, and arrived safe and sound to be whisked straight out for some rock climbing in the bracing wind.

The whole week was full of adventures and challenging journeys up waterfalls, though pitch black slate mines, around mountains and down mile wide estuaries.  The students were wonderful and praised by the centre staff for how well they looked after the centre whilst we were there even taking on extra chores to help the centre staff at meal times. They overcame fears and problem solved their way out of some difficult situations, met lots of lambs, slipped into a couple of wellie eating bogs and even encountered a seal whilst rafting!

Even though we returned exhausted from all the activity and all the early morning work outs (thank you Eva), we all wished we could have stayed an extra week!
Well done to all the students that attended, you were fantastic and a huge thank you to Mr Tibbits for accompanying me and making the task of getting the students off to sleep every night a breeze!

For more photos of the week, please visit the Arete website;
https://www.aretecentre.co.uk/photos/
and scroll down for St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School 2020.

Mrs Tierney
Head of Girls Physical Education