Over the past week, groups of Second Year students have enjoyed the great outdoors at our Boetius Centre on the edge of the Brecon Beacons.
The centre is the inspiring legacy of former biology teacher Dick Boetius who worked at the school from 1969-1979 and pioneered outdoor pursuits during that time. Dick generously left the school a large sum of money when he died in 2013 to fulfil his vision of acquiring a permanent centre close to his beloved Brecon Beacons.
The trips are a great opportunity for students to make connections with others outside of their form groups, as they prepare to move into the Third Year. We also wanted to give them an opportunity to develop important life-skills such as independence, resilience and how to have fun! Equally important, it’s a great chance to ban technology for a few days and embrace more traditional activities.
After travelling down to Wales, the groups spent the first day getting out into the fresh air and walking the local hills surrounding the Boetius Centre. The views in the local area are stunning, and after hours travelling, it was a great chance for students to stretch their legs. This was followed by a hot dinner and quiz night.
During the second and third days, the groups rotated between various adventurous and challenging activities including caving, gorge walking and climbing with local instructors.
The second night was spent consuming hot chocolate and popcorn and participating in board games or sports.
The students all had a fantastic time, forming deeper friendships with their peers, challenging themselves on activities and making memories for life.
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We are very lucky to have the Boetius Centre, and – whilst not being used for adventurous trips, Duke of Edinburgh training, art and photography or Geography field trips – it is available to hire. The brochure can be found here.
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