So, the plan of children asleep by 10.00pm wasn’t a huge success - it appears that midnight came and went with most of them still awake and chatting or getting very scared of the five spiders in their cabins! Still, this didn’t slow them down; most were awake by six and some had been playing card games from five a.m.!

Finally, the teachers were able to rouse themselves enough that we could make our way to the kitchens for a stodgy breakfast of pancakes with syrup or fruit; cereal; toast; and then another helping of cereal! This gave the children the fuel to take on their first activities. 

All the groups were able to hit the beach, though only one was fortunate enough to get there when the tide was out, allowing them to go crabbing! However, one group made up for this disappointment by burying Mr Clarke when he was trying to have a nice relax on the sand! 

Mrs Tickle’s group repaired St Mary’s driving reputation at Mersea Residential with some fantastic manoeuvres (including reverse bay parking!) on the pedal karts. They whizzed around the course and showed that the other go-kart crashes were just blips.

We also did archery, the leap of faith and team games, before ending the day with a whole-class game of capture the flag (with a cameo from Ms Naunton for the blue team). There have been some formal disputes of Mr Clarke’s scoring, though the committee, comprising Mr Clarke, has reviewed these and found the baseless. 

We’re looking forward to doing our water activities tomorrow - kayaking and paddle boarding are on the to-do schedule and the children can’t wait! 

Now, the aim is all children in bed and asleep by eleven p.m.. 

Don’t miss tomorrow’s update! 

The 2023 residential team