Letting go!
This post is a light-hearted offering for the Writing Workshop set up by Josie The prompt is :- Describe a ‘letting go’ that made you happy, rather than sad.
I was one of 3 teachers accompanying a group of 10 year olds on a weeklong camp. We were staying in the Forest of Dean & it was the beginning of the school year in September. As a school we would use it to bond the year group so that back at school they had a sense of identity & belonging. Although this was their last year of primary school, being the top of the school often heralded lots of hormonal angst & ‘Kevin’ like behaviour amongst the children. Having a good camp could make the difference to the year as a whole.
For many of the children, it was their first experience of being away from home. There were tears & nerves for the first day but gradually they got used to the routines & began to enjoy the activities. They would range from rambles / nature watch in the forest/trips to ‘team building’ type things like building a raft to cross a river or negotiating an obstacle course that needed support from other people. These were designed to build confidence as well as relationships & some really tested that ‘Have a Go’ gene we all have. Staff were encouraged to join in as much as possible. It was turning out to be a very pleasant experience & as the days passed, the children came to realise that Miss would always have a go. That was providing she wasn’t too big or heavy!! I even got on a horse & allowed it to move!
One of the favourite things was the ‘Death Slide’. You’ll have seen them on the adverts for the TA I’m sure. It involves climbing a tower, hooking yourself onto a wire & sliding down to the ground. There was a slot each evening when the children could do this. By the last evening it was pointed out that I hadn’t been on the Death Slide yet. My colleagues had, apart from one who was never around at that time (I wonder where he went?). I must admit to being nervous from the start. The harness was ‘a bit comfy’ to say the least!
I knew as I climbed up this tower (I’m sure they have one just like it in Paris with a point on it!) that this was not a good idea. Suddenly I discovered that I had this terrible fear of heights! Once at the top (children all cheering) I had to clip the harness onto the wire. My hands were shaking so much I just couldn’t get the darn thing on. All the while the pounding of my heart was becoming more deafening! All the time the children were shouting louder! I tried to go back down but there was a queue behind me (isn’t there always!).
So…I had to go. I closed my eyes, screamed my head off, slipped off the edge & flew for what felt like hours! By the time I ‘landed’ the tears were flooding down my face & the children were congratulating me on my yelling. It was an experience that I have never & will never do again but goodness I was so happy to let go!
(No, that is not a picture of me – she’s smiling!)
go you because I don’t think I could do that *looks impressed* Thanks for joining in Blog Gems. Jen
Good for you! I’d have felt the same way! I don’t want to miss out on any experiences, but they would nonetheless terrify me! =) Stopping by from Blog Gems.
Clever idea for Blog Gems! I did something similar on an Outward Bound course – though I took 20 minutes to pluck up the courage to ‘let go’!
Hee hee good for you.
I’m a bit of freak and love things like that. The higher the better! I bet you felt like you were flying 😉
I’ve always been a woss! Never went on anything that moved at the fairapart from ‘Hook-a-Duck’! My son once wanted to go on a small Big Wheel. I had to ask a couple queuing to take him!!
You’re an adventurous one anyway! Just scream – it helps!
Ooh, you are brave. I’ve managed to avoid one of those things so far in life, but I suspect that sometime in the future I’ll be dragged onto one by the children.
Don’t apologise! It was meant to make you smile. These things always look so simple don’t they!!
I’m sorry – I laughed.
I laughed because I was so glad I wasn’t on that harness! The worst similar thing I did was at a theme park, I sat on a sofa like attraction that was dragged up God knows how many feet and dropped.
I have never suffered so much in my life and like you I will NEVER do it again. EVER.
Nice memory 🙂
Oh I feel for you! Been there, at the top of an abseiling tower with a lot of y6 at the bottom! Sadistic instructor pushed me off! I loved it and went back up for another go but, oh the pressure! Honestly, the things teachers have to do! Well done you, I really enjoyed this post it made me laugh out loud!
Glad it brought a smile! I blush when I think of some of the things I’ve done all in the cause of educating(I mean entertaining) children!
LOL Julia, you poor thing! Kudos to you for doing it though…..tears could easily be put down to the wind caused by the g-force trajectory!
Px
That’s what I hoped. The children were too keen to get the other staff up there!